Inorganic Nanomaterials for Enhanced Therapeutic Safety

Abstract

Background/issues: Nanomaterials have been effectively and widely utilized in a variety of scientific disciplines to enhance biomedical applications. These nanomaterials are often organic or inorganic and often comprised of polymers or metal derivatives. The therapeutic safety of these often-toxic materials, however, is of paramount importance to ensure therapeutic safety. The safety of nanomaterials is therefore a widely undertaken research discipline evaluated both in vitro and in vivo. Major advances: This review provides for the currently undertaken research for the determination of therapeutic safety in inorganic nanomaterials. The importance of therapeutic safety, toxicity, and regulation of nanomaterials has been provided prior to the review of the respective nanomaterials. Specific focus has been given to metal-derived nanomaterials including gold, silver, silica, copper, iron, zinc, and titanium nanomaterials. Toxicology profiling and cytotoxicity studies of these nanomaterials have also been provided in addition to the in vivo studies that have been undertaken and the potential for alternative nanomaterial safety assessments.