title: Emerging therapies for the treatment of ungual onychomycosis.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Onychomycosis, a common fungal infection in the finger and toe nails, affects approximately 2-8% of the worldwide population. Fungal infection is more complicated in those who suffer from conditions, such as diabetes, peripheral vascular diseases and compromised immune diseases.
  
  
  METHODS
  Onychomycosis treatment has been classified on the basis of location of infection in the toes and fingers and infectious agents (dermatophytes fungi, yeast and non-dermatophyte molds). In this review, the available therapies (traditional and device based) and their limitations for the treatment of onychomycosis have been discussed.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The success rate with topical nail products has been minimal. The main reason for this poor success rate could be attributed to the lack of complete understanding of the pathophysiology of the disease and clinical pharmacokinetic data of drugs in the infected nail apparatus.
authors.affiliation: a Institute for Drug Delivery and Biomedical Research , Bangalore , India .|b Department of Pharmaceutics , University of Mississippi, University , MS , USA , and.
authors.forename: Avadhesh
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kushwaha
authors.affiliation: a Institute for Drug Delivery and Biomedical Research , Bangalore , India .
authors.forename: Reena N
authors.initials: RN
authors.lastname: Murthy
authors.affiliation: a Institute for Drug Delivery and Biomedical Research , Bangalore , India .|b Department of Pharmaceutics , University of Mississippi, University , MS , USA , and.
authors.forename: S Narasimha
authors.initials: SN
authors.lastname: Murthy
authors.affiliation: c Department of Dermatology , University of California , San Francisco , CA , USA.
authors.forename: Rania
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Elkeeb
authors.affiliation: c Department of Dermatology , University of California , San Francisco , CA , USA.
authors.forename: X
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Hui
authors.affiliation: c Department of Dermatology , University of California , San Francisco , CA , USA.
authors.forename: Howard I
authors.initials: HI
authors.lastname: Maibach
mesh_terms: D000284:Administration, Oral; D000287:Administration, Topical; D000935:Antifungal Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006801:Humans; D053685:Laser Therapy; D014009:Onychomycosis / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000628:therapy; D010778:Photochemotherapy
chemical_list: D000935:Antifungal Agents
keywords: Nail; onychomycosis; surgical; systemic; therapies; traditional