Nanomaterials in biology and medicine: a new perspective on its toxicity and applications

Abstract

Nanotechnology offers excellent prospects for application in biology and medicine. It is used for detecting biological molecules, imaging, and as therapeutic agents. Due to nano-size (1-100 nm) and high surface-to-volume ratio, nanomaterials possess highly specific and distinct characteristics in the biological environment. Recently, the use of nanomaterials as sensors, theranostic, and drug delivery agents has become popular. The safety of these materials is being questioned because of their biological toxicity, such as inflammatory responses, cardiotoxicity, cytotoxicity, inhalation problems, etc., which can have a negative impact on the environment. This review paper focuses primarily on the toxicological effects of nanomaterials along with the mechanisms involved in cell interactions and the generation of reactive oxygen species by nanoparticles, which is the fundamental source of nanotoxicity. We also emphasize the greener synthesis of nanomaterials in biomedicine, as it is non-hazardous, feasible, and economical. The review articles shed light on the complexities of nanotoxicology in biosystems and the environment.

Graphical Abstract

Keywords:

• Nanomaterials
• nanoparticles
• applications of NPs in drug delivery
• NP toxicity
• nanotoxicity
• nanomaterials
• reactive oxygen species
• medical applications
• green synthesis
• invertebrates

Acknowledgements

Greatly thankful to Amrita School of Pharmacy for all the help and support.

Consent for publication

All authors give consent for publication of this manuscript in the journal of Drug and chemical toxicology.

Authors’ contributions

Dr. Vidya Viswanad provided the title and did the proofreading. Janani S, Ayushi Nair and S Swathi Krishna wrote the original draft. All authors have read and agreed to the publishing of this manuscript. All authors contributed equally to this work.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability and materials statement

The data sets used, analyzed, and reviewed were collected from the corresponding authors and online research databases.

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.