Nanotoxicity: Must consider aspect of nanoparticle development

Abstract

Early years are proof of nanoparticle developments and understanding basic mechanisms. With no doubt, nanotechnology based drug delivery systems are very effective to achieve improved therapeutic effects in vivo and properties in vitro. Drug discovery programs are generating pharmacologically promising drug candidates but they suffer from solubility, stability, and toxicity. Nanoparticle engineering could find various solutions to solve these issues but unknowingly it contributes to the toxicity at cellular and organ levels. New ways to treat diseases are being researched include approaches like gene therapy and immunotherapy, which suffer from other formulation disadvantages and toxicity issues. Overall, many exciting results are obtained using nanotechnology research in various infectious and non-infectious diseases. However, the main challenge is to pass the safety testing during preclinical and clinical trial. This chapter illustrates various aspects of nanoparticle toxicity, its evolution and presents the status on the regulatory and industry discussions about it.