Abstract
Since the last decade, nanotechnology has evolved rapidly and has been applied in several areas, such as medicine, pharmaceutical, microelectronics, aerospace, food industries, among others. The use of nanoparticles as drug carriers has been explored and presents several advantages, such as controlled and targeted release of loaded or coupled drugs, and the improvement of the drug’s bioavailability, in addition to others. However, they also have some limitations, related to their in vivo toxicity, which affects all organs including the healthy ones, and overall improvement in the disease treatment, which can be unnoticeable or minimal. Silver nanoparticles have been increasingly investigated due to their peculiar physical, chemical, and optical properties, which allows them to cover several applications, namely in the transport of drugs to a specific target in the body. Given the limitations of conventional cancer chemotherapy, which include low bioavailability and the consequent use of high doses that cause adverse effects, strategies that overcome these difficulties are extremely important. This review embraces an overview and presentation about silver nanoparticles used as anticancer drug carrier systems and focuses a discussion on the state of the art of silver nanoparticles exploited for transport of anticancer drugs and their influence on antitumor effects.
Highlights
Cancer is one of the most challenging diseases, characterized by the development of mutated cells that divide uncontrollably
Nanoparticles are removed from the circulation by the glomerular filtration system (NPs below 20 nm in diameter are rapidly cleared by renal excretion) and NPs larger than 200 nm in diameter are cleared from the reticuloendothelial system (RES)
This nanocarrier combines the synergistic effect of AgNPs, which increases the production of reactive oxygen species responsible for damaging DNA, leading to apoptosis of graphene oxide, which by absorbing near infrared radiation can be used for photothermal ablation of tumors, and of methotrexate, which has anticancer pharmacological activity
Summary
Cancer is one of the most challenging diseases, characterized by the development of mutated cells that divide uncontrollably. In addition to the problems related to the anticancer drugs addressed, early detection of cancer is a challenge. In this sense, the combination of target-oriented drug delivery systems and controlled release can be the alternatives to overcome some limitations of conventional chemotherapy, and nanotechnology might be the solution. According to the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) E2456-06 standard, a nanoparticle is a particle whose size is between 1 and 100 nm. This definition has not been strictly followed by all authors. Some important data of the works are compiled in a table, namely the selected drugs used for coupling with AgNPs, synthesis method and parameters, functionalization of the nanoparticles, characterization methods for monitoring of the assembly, and the results obtained in in vitro anticancer assays
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