Exploring the potential of herbal nanotechnology for the treatment of urinary tract infections

Urinary tract infections (UTIs) continue to pose a substantial clinical challenge due to high recurrence, biofilm-mediated persistence, and the rapid expansion of antimicrobial resistance. The waning effectiveness of conventional antibiotics highlights the urgency for resistance-sparing therapeutic strategies. Recent advances in herbal nanotechnology have enabled the precise nanoengineering of plant-derived phytochemicals, enhancing their stability, bioavailability, and pathogen-specific activity. This review critically appraises nanomaterial-based phytotherapeutic approaches for UTI management, focusing on the mechanistic integration of phytochemical bioactivity with nanoscale delivery systems. Nanomaterials developed from medicinal plants, crude extracts, and isolated phytoconstituents are evaluated for their ability to interfere with uropathogen adhesion, dismantle biofilms, suppress virulence signaling, induce oxidative stress, and regulate host inflammatory responses. Translational barriers, including formulation reproducibility, safety assessment, scalable production, and regulatory compliance, are also examined. By consolidating antimicrobial, antibiofilm, and host-modulatory evidence, this review identifies nano-enabled phytotherapeutic strategies with translational promise as multi-target alternatives to antibiotic-based UTI therapy.