Human Health, Environmental Sustainability and Food Production: Interfaces with Nanomedicine

Abstract

In the case of animal production, use of high-density animals in the farm will be accompanied by challenges such as optimizing the use of inputs (e.g. antibiotics, antiparasitics, and nutrients), greater sanitary control, minimizing the risk of transmission of zoonoses, greater control of drug residues in food, and ensuring low environmental impact. These challenges are a window of opportunity for the use of nanotechnology. Coping with the loss of efficiency of pharmaceutical drugs against common pathogens is a great challenge to public health. Resistant pathogens have emerged due to indiscriminate use of drugs, and the massive use of drugs in food animals may be contributing to this situation. Worldwide, most antimicrobials and antiparasitics that are being used in animal production have to be used in a better way. Drug delivery systems may be important tools to optimize veterinary drug use and then mitigate its use. Nanoencapsulation of drugs can lead to therapeutic gains and reduce the amount of drugs used for animal treatment with goal of control and prevention infectious diseases. This can occur because of the changes in the pharmacokinetic profile of the drugs, reduced toxicity and appropriate delivery.