Pharmaceutical Applications of Iron-Oxide Magnetic Nanoparticles

Abstract

Advances of nanotechnology led to the development of nanoparticulate systems with many advantages due to their unique physicochemical properties. The use of iron-oxide magnetic nanoparticles (IOMNPs) in pharmaceutical areas increased in the last few decades. This article reviews the conceptual information about iron oxides, magnetic nanoparticles, methods of IOMNP synthesis, properties useful for pharmaceutical applications, advantages and disadvantages, strategies for nanoparticle assemblies, and uses in the production of drug delivery, hyperthermia, theranostics, photodynamic therapy, and as an antimicrobial. The encapsulation, coating, or dispersion of IOMNPs with biocompatible material(s) can avoid the aggregation, biodegradation, and alterations from the original state and also enable entrapping the bioactive agent on the particle via adsorption or covalent attachment. IOMNPs show great potential for target drug delivery, improving the therapy as a consequence of a higher drug effect using lower concentrations, thus reducing side effects and toxicity. Different methodologies allow IOMNP synthesis, resulting in different structures, sizes, dispersions, and surface modifications. These advantages support their utilization in pharmaceutical applications, and getting suitable drug release control on the target tissues could be beneficial in several clinical situations, such as infections, inflammations, and cancer. However, more toxicological clinical investigations about IOMNPs are necessary.

Shape Anisotropic Iron Oxide-Based Magnetic Nanoparticles: Synthesis and Biomedical Applications

“…High-quality nanoparticles are attained by different methods, which can be separated in three main classes: physical, chemical and biological [25]. Physical methods include pulsed laser ablation and pyrolysis, while chemical encompass a wide variety of methods, such as co precipitation, hydrothermal and solvothermal synthesis, thermal decomposition, sol-gel synthesis, sonochemical decomposition, microemulsion, microwave-assisted and electrochemical synthesis [24][25][26]. Biological routes include the bacterial and microorganism synthesis [24][25][26].…”

“…Physical methods include pulsed laser ablation and pyrolysis, while chemical encompass a wide variety of methods, such as co precipitation, hydrothermal and solvothermal synthesis, thermal decomposition, sol-gel synthesis, sonochemical decomposition, microemulsion, microwave-assisted and electrochemical synthesis [24][25][26]. Biological routes include the bacterial and microorganism synthesis [24][25][26]. The advantages and disadvantages of the common methods are included in Table 1, besides examples of spherical and anisotropic shape nanoparticles obtained through each method.…”

In Vitro Intracellular Hyperthermia of Iron Oxide Magnetic Nanoparticles, Synthesized at High Temperature by a Polyol Process

“…Since the validation of ferrimagnetic iron oxide magnetic nanoparticles, IOMNPs (magnetite-Fe 3 O 4 or maghemite-Fe 2 O 3 ), by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration [1], this class of magnetic nanoparticles has been the subject of intense research for their potentiality in a widespread number of biomedical and pharmaceutical applications [2][3][4][5][6]. To be efficient as vectors for targeted drug delivery, contrast agents in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and heating mediators in magnetic hyperthermia (MH), the IOMNPs should possess a maximum value of saturation magnetization (M s ) and minimum value of coercive field (H c ) and remnant magnetization (M r ) [7][8][9].…”

Structured Magnetic Core/Silica Internal Shell Layer and Protein Out Layer Shell (BSA@SiO2@SME): Preparation and Characterization

“…Magnetic nanoparticles were prepared via various techniques such as co-precipitation, micelle synthesis, hydrothermal synthesis, thermal decomposition, etc. [3][4][5][6][7]. Nanoparticles were produced with a low size range (2-100 nm) allowing the easy penetrability through biological barriers [8,9].…”