Pharmacokinetics, Metabolism and Toxicity of Carbon Nanotubes for Biomedical Purposes

Abstract

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have attracted great interest of the nano community and beyond. However, the biomedical applications of CNTs arouse serious concerns for their unknown in vivo consequence, in which the information of pharmacokinetics, metabolism and toxicity of CNTs is essential. In this review, we summarize the updated data of CNTs from the biomedical view. The information shows that surface chemistry is crucial in regulating the in vivo behaviors of CNTs. Among the functionalization methods, PEGylation is the most efficient one to improve the pharmacokinetics and biocompatibility of CNTs. The guiding effects of the pharmacokinetics, metabolism and toxicity information on the biomedical applications of CNTs are discussed.

Stress oxidativo e alterações enzimáticas induzidas por nanotubos de carbono de paredes múltiplas (MWCNTs) funcionalizados com polietileno glicol no tecido hepático de camundongos

“…Esta propriedade é particularmente reforçada por moléculas de PEG de alto peso molecular e altamente ramificado, resultando em comportamento farmacocinético melhorado, circulação sanguínea com meia-vida prolongada e redução da captura pelo sistema reticuloendotelial (BOTTINI et al, 2011;HUANG et al, 2010). Por exemplo, PEG2000 resulta em meia vida de circulação sanguínea de 1,2 h, enquanto PEG6000 aumenta a meia-vida a 5 h; Além disso, o uso de PEG ramificado melhora a meiavida da circulação sanguínea até 15 h (YANG et al, 2012). PEG pode revestir o MWCNT via ligação covalente ou não covalente; em nosso estudo, a funcionalização de NT1 e NTC foi feita por ligação covalente com PEG6000.…”

Radio‐Labeled Nanoparticles for Biomedical Imaging

“…They are also being investigated as drug delivery vehicles, diagnostic biosensors, and thermal ablative agents, as modifications of the tubes allow for these applications [70]. CNTs can be functionalized to improve their solubility, lower their in vivo toxicity, and improve their pharmacokinetic properties [71,72]. CNTs can be radiolabeled by surface modification and subsequent labeling or by encapsulation of the radionuclide within their inner walls [73][74][75][76].…”

Biomedical photoacoustics: fundamentals, instrumentation and perspectives on nanomedicine

“…SWNTs are inexpensive, but the problem of cytotoxicity is yet to be solved. 73 Organic dyes are rather safe and have high excretion rate, allowing for their broad clinical applications. However, their small sizes (,2 nm) lead to their transportation into the echelon lymph nodes, which produces possible false positives.…”

“…Fortunately, recent research reveals the possibility of employing the graphene nanoparticles for MSC-based imaging and therapy at potentially safe doses (,50 mg/mL) in vitro. 73 The introduction of exogenous contrast agents expands the biomedical application realm and provides higher resolution in a deeper region of object tissue. Nevertheless, each exogenous contrast has its disadvantages.…”