Construction of Metal Ion Composite Materials and Their Autophagy Activation to Control the Growth of Malassezia on the Skin

Abstract

Malassezia can cause various skin diseases, and even lead to more severe problems for specific populations such as immunocompromised children and adults, people with high sebum secretion, and patients with gastrointestinal diseases. In recent years, a plenty of research has indicated that traditional antifungal treatment methods may lead to drug resistance problems. Due to the traditional methods causing this problem, there is an urgent need for new methods to treat Malassezia induced diseases. Metal ions have been utilized in biology, chemistry, and medicine. Existing studies have shown that certain metal ions have bactericidal effects, requiring specific metal ions to be selected for different situations. Here, a method to activate autophagy through copper and iron ions has been proposed. This study focuses on the construction of novel metal ion-conforming materials and their role in activating autophagy in Malassezia, developing composite materials based on metal ions to control the growth of Malassezia.