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Injectable nanocarriers for biodetoxification

Nature Nanotechnology volume 2, pages 679–684 (2007)Cite this article

Abstract

Hospitals routinely treat patients suffering from overdoses of drugs or other toxic chemicals as a result of illicit drug consumption, suicide attempts or accidental exposures. However, for many life-threatening situations, specific antidotes are not available and treatment is largely based on emptying the stomach, administering activated charcoal or other general measures of intoxication support. A promising strategy for managing such overdoses is to inject nanocarriers that can extract toxic agents from intoxicated tissues. To be effective, the nanocarriers must remain in the blood long enough to sequester the toxic components and/or their metabolites, and the toxin bound complex must also remain stable until it is removed from the bloodstream. Here, we discuss the principles that govern the use of injectable nanocarriers in biodetoxification and review the pharmacological performance of a number of different approaches.

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Figure 1: Treating drug overdose and chemical poisoning with nanocarriers.
Figure 2: Schematic representation of two vesicular nanostructures used in detoxification.
Figure 3: Heart-rate recovery after intoxication and addition of a nanocarrier.

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Acknowledgements

The Canada Research Chair program and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NanoIP program) are acknowledged for their financial support.

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  1. Canada Research Chair in Drug Delivery, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Montreal, P.O. Box 6128 Downtown Station, Montreal, H3C 3J7, Quebec, Canada

    Jean-Christophe Leroux

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Leroux, JC. Injectable nanocarriers for biodetoxification. Nature Nanotech 2, 679–684 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1038/nnano.2007.339

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