Nanoparticles: Pharmacological and Toxicological Significance

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C Medina, M J Santos-Martinez, A Radomski, O I Corrigan, & M W Radomski
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Br J Pharmacol. 2007 Mar; 150(5): 552–558. Published online 2007 Jan 22. doi:  10.1038/sj.bjp.0707130

Abstract Nanoparticles are tiny materials (<1000 nm in size) that have specific physicochemical properties different to bulk materials of the same composition and such properties make them very attractive for commercial and medical development. However, nanoparticles can act on living cells at the nanolevel resulting not only in biologically desirable, but also in undesirable effects. In contrast to many efforts aimed at exploiting desirable properties of nanoparticles for medicine, there are limited attempts to evaluate potentially undesirable effects of these particles when administered intentionally for medical purposes. Therefore, there is a pressing need for careful consideration of benefits and side effects of the use of nanoparticles in medicine. This review article aims at providing a balanced update of these exciting pharmacological and potentially toxicological developments. The classes of nanoparticles, the current status of nanoparticle use in pharmacology and therapeutics, the demonstrated and potential toxicity of nanoparticles will be discussed.

Keywords: nanoparticles, nanotechnology, nanopharmacology, nanotoxicologyGo to:IntroductionNanotechnology, as defined by the United States (US) Nanotechnology Initiative, is ‘the understanding and control of matter at dimensions of roughly 1–100 nanometers, where unique phenomena enable novel applications'. In the last decade, engineered nanoparticles have become an important class of new materials with several properties that make them very attractive for commercial development. In fact, they have been increasingly used for manufacturing diverse industrial items such as cosmetics or clothes and for infinite applications in electronics, aerospace and computer industry. In addition, as the need for the development of new medicines is pressing, and given the inherent nanoscale functions of the biological components of living cells, nanotechnology has been applied to diverse medical fields such as oncology and cardiovascular medicine. Indeed, nanotechnology is being used to refine discovery of biomarkers, molecular diagnostics, and drug discovery and drug delivery, which could be applicable to management of these patients. The National Institutes of Health (USA) reviewing the use of nanotechnology in human diseases introduced the term of ‘nanomedicine' to describe such applications. To achieve these aims, nanotechnology strives to develop and combine new materials by precisely engineering atoms and molecules to yield new molecular assemblies on the scale of individual cells, organelles or even smaller components, providing a personalized medicine (Jain, 2005a, 2005b). Personalized medicine is individualized or individual-based-therapy which allows the prescription of precise treatments best suited for a single patient (Jain, 2002).

In the last few years, several pharmacological companies won approval from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the US for the use and development of nanotechnology-based drugs. Obviously, the costs of this new technology are extremely high. Today, US $9 billion are spent per year all over the world in nanotechnology (Service, 2004). Indeed, the US and Japan will spend an estimated US $6.7 billion until 2008 for research and technological development in this field. As nanotechnology is undergoing such explosive expansion in many areas, even poorer developing countries have also decided that this new technology could represent a considered investment in future economic and social well-being that they cannot ignore.