Rampant antimicrobial resistance calls for innovative strategies to effectively control
bacterial infections, enhance antibacterial efficacy, minimize side effects, and protect existing
antibiotics in the market. Therefore, to enhance the delivery of
antibiotics and increase their bioavailability and accumulation at the site of
infection, the surfaces of
nano-drug delivery systems have been diversely modified. This strategy applies various covalent and non-covalent techniques to introduce specific coating materials that have been found to be effective against various sensitive and resistant microorganisms. In this review, we discuss the techniques of surface modification of nanocarriers loaded with
antibacterial agents. Furthermore, saccharides,
polymers,
peptides,
antibiotics,
enzymes and cell membranes coatings that have been used for surface functionalization of
nano-drug delivery systems are described, emphasizing current approaches for enhancing delivery, bioavailability, and efficacy of surface-modified antibacterial nanocarriers at
infection sites. This article offers a critical overview of the potential of surface-modified antibacterial nanocarriers to overcome the limitations of conventional
antibiotics in the treatment of
bacterial infections. This article is categorized under: Therapeutic Approaches and
Drug Discovery > Emerging Technologies Therapeutic Approaches and
Drug Discovery > Nanomedicine for
Infectious Disease Nanotechnology Approaches to Biology > Nanoscale Systems in Biology.