Nanopharmaceuticals : An Overview

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, cardiovascular medicine and in treatment of other chronic diseases. 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 ideal nanopharmaceutical agent must be safe, biocompatible, biodegradable and stealthy-disguised well enough that the body's immune system will not recognize it as foreign. The ultimate agent will recognize the toxic molecules, attract and bind them quickly, reduce the free drug concentration and, in the process, trigger the heart to function normally. This requires a very delicate balance between successful detoxification and preventing toxicity with the nanopharmaceuticals. Nanopharmaceuticals 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 nanopharmaceuticals for medicine, there are limited attempts to evaluate potentially undesirable effects of nanopharmaceuticals when administered intentionally for medical purposes. So, there is a pressing need for careful consideration of benefits and side effects of the use of nanopharmaceuticals. This review article aims at providing a balanced update of these exciting pharmacological and potentially toxicological developments.