Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, USA.
Virulence. 2011 Sep-Oct;2(5):395-401. doi: 10.4161/viru.2.5.17035. Epub 2011 Sep 1.
The treatment and prevention of infectious diseases is a major part of both clinical and investigative medicine. As the use of conventional antibiotics rises, antimicrobial resistance patterns develop, necessitating the continuous need for newer and more effective therapies. Nanotechnology, defined as the production and application of materials in the nanoscale range (1-100 nm), has been the focus of several investigations as a result of unique physical and chemical properties of nanomaterials. . Specifically, nanomaterials provide added benefits due to their small size; allowing for an increased ability to surpass most physiologic barriers and reach their intended targets, and high surface area-to-volume ratio, allowing for increased potential to interact with pathogen membranes and cell walls. This review focuses of the potential therapeutic and preventative applications of nanotechnology-based drug delivery systems in infectious disease.
传染病的治疗和预防是临床和调查医学的主要内容。随着常规抗生素的使用增加，抗菌药物耐药模式发展，需要不断开发更新、更有效的治疗方法。纳米技术被定义为在纳米范围内（1-100nm）生产和应用材料，由于纳米材料具有独特的物理和化学性质，已成为多项研究的重点。具体来说，纳米材料由于其体积小而具有额外的益处，这使得它们能够增加穿透大多数生理屏障并到达目标的能力，并且具有较大的表面积与体积比，从而增加与病原体膜和细胞壁相互作用的潜力。这篇综述重点介绍了基于纳米技术的药物传递系统在传染病治疗和预防方面的潜在应用。
