Institut Català de Nanotecnologia, UAB Campus, 08193 Cerdanyola del Vallés, Barcelona, Spain.
Curr Drug Metab. 2013 Jun;14(5):518-30. doi: 10.2174/13892002113149990008.
Inorganic nanoparticles (NPs) currently have immense potential as drug delivery vectors due to their unique physicochemical properties such as high surface area per unit volume, their optical and magnetic uniqueness and the ability to be functionalized with a large number of ligands to enhance their affinity towards target molecules. These features, together with the therapeutic activity of some drugs, render the combination of these two entities (NP-drug) as an attractive alternative in the area of drug delivery. One of the major advantages of these conjugates is the possibility to have a local delivery of the drug, thus reducing systemic side effects and enabling a higher efficiency of the therapeutic molecule. This review highlights the direct implications of nanoscale particles in the development of drug delivery systems. In more detail, it is also remarked the extensive use of inorganic NPs for targeted cancer therapies. As the range of nanoparticles and their applications continues to increase, human safety concerns are gaining importance, which makes it necessary to better understand the potential toxicity hazards of these materials.
无机纳米粒子（NPs）由于其独特的物理化学性质，如单位体积的高表面积、光学和磁性独特性以及能够与大量配体结合以增强其对靶分子的亲和力，目前作为药物输送载体具有巨大的潜力。这些特性，再加上一些药物的治疗活性，使得这两种实体（NP-药物）的结合成为药物输送领域的一个有吸引力的选择。这些结合物的主要优点之一是有可能进行药物的局部递送，从而减少全身副作用并提高治疗分子的效率。本综述强调了纳米级颗粒在药物输送系统发展中的直接影响。更详细地说，还提到了无机 NPs 在靶向癌症治疗中的广泛应用。随着纳米颗粒的范围及其应用的不断增加，人们对人类安全问题的关注日益增加，这使得有必要更好地了解这些材料的潜在毒性危害。
