Nano-engineered biomaterials: Safety matters and toxicity evaluation

Abstract

Nanotechnologies have invaded the field of tissue engineering including osteoarticular and dental tissue, and innovative biomaterials with topographic features engineered at the nanoscale have been designed to create nanostructures with mechanical and osteogenic properties. Nano-vehicles have also been developed and used as delivery systems for bio-actives compounds targeting bone tissue and preventing or treating locally skeletal diseases such as bone infections or tumors.While great advances have been reported in the design and production of these smart nanomaterials, their clinical translational remains a real challenge, mostly due to the limited predictive capacity of traditional preclinical safety tests. Safety issues specifically related to the nanometer scale have emerged, and new toxicity evaluation protocols need to be implemented.After providing an overview of the contribution of these encouraging therapeutic approaches, this review will focus on the specific safety concerns they raise, and toxicity evaluation will be discussed in terms of limits, challenges, and perspectives. Based on emerging technologies, recommendations are given to guarantee the robustness and the reproducibility of risk assessment procedures. Finally, we give a most recent update about nanomaterials safety guidelines.