Revista de nanomateriales y nanotecnología molecular

In vivo General Trends, Filtration and Toxicity of Nanoparticles

Grant A Hartung and G Ali Mansoori

In vivo General Trends, Filtration and Toxicity of Nanoparticles

The medical field is a vastly expanding one and with the discovery of nanoparticles (carbon nanotubes, diamondoids, fullerenes, gold and silver nanoparticles, quantum dots, etc.), there lies a vast field of unsolved medical diagnoses to be reassessed. Upon reassessment of the current medical problems, it is important to know what happens to a particle once it is free in the body. This review examines the different destinations of nanomaterials after they enter the body, their toxicity and their filtration. Assessing the destination of nanoparticles is done in order to find out whether they are removed by macrophages. It is concluded the strongest trends of the nanoparticles itself is of shape and surface chemistry. Toxicity of nanoparticles is found to be mostly dose-dependent. The nanoparticle filtration goal is to have the body naturally filter out the nanoparticles without a response from the immune system.