Li Xiang, Naeem Abid, Xiao Shanghua, Hu Lei, Zhang Jing, Zheng Qin
National Pharmaceutical Engineering Center for Solid Preparation in Chinese Herbal Medicine, Jiangxi University of Chinese Medicine, Nanchang 330006, China.
Key Laboratory of Modern Preparation of TCM, Ministry of Education, Jiangxi University of Chinese Medicine, Nanchang 330004, China.
Pharmaceutics. 2022 Jun 17;14(6):1292. doi: 10.3390/pharmaceutics14061292.
Dendrimers are used for a variety of applications in medicine but, due to their host-guest and entrapment characteristics, are particularly used for the delivery of genes and drugs. However, dendrimers are intrinsically toxic, thus creating a major limitation for their use in biological systems. To reduce such toxicity, biocompatible dendrimers have been designed and synthesized, and surface engineering has been used to create advantageous changes at the periphery of dendrimers. Although dendrimers have been reviewed previously in the literature, there has yet to be a systematic and comprehensive review of the harmful effects of dendrimers. In this review, we describe the routes of dendrimer exposure and their distribution in vivo. Then, we discuss the toxicity of dendrimers at the organ, cellular, and sub-cellular levels. In this review, we also describe how technology can be used to reduce dendrimer toxicity, by changing their size and surface functionalization, how dendrimers can be combined with other materials to generate a composite formulation, and how dendrimers can be used for the diagnosis of disease. Finally, we discuss future challenges, developments, and research directions in developing biocompatible and safe dendrimers for medical purposes.
树枝状大分子在医学中有多种应用，但由于其主客体和包封特性，特别用于基因和药物递送。然而，树枝状大分子具有内在毒性，因此在生物系统中的应用存在重大限制。为降低此类毒性，已设计并合成了生物相容性树枝状大分子，并采用表面工程在树枝状大分子的外围产生有利变化。尽管此前文献中已有关于树枝状大分子的综述，但尚未有对其有害影响进行系统全面的综述。在本综述中，我们描述了树枝状大分子的暴露途径及其在体内的分布。然后，我们讨论了树枝状大分子在器官、细胞和亚细胞水平的毒性。在本综述中，我们还描述了如何通过改变其大小和表面功能化来利用技术降低树枝状大分子的毒性，树枝状大分子如何与其他材料结合以生成复合制剂，以及树枝状大分子如何用于疾病诊断。最后，我们讨论了开发用于医学目的的生物相容性和安全树枝状大分子的未来挑战、发展和研究方向。
