The Other Side of Plastics: Bioplastic-Based Nanoparticles for Drug Delivery Systems in the Brain

Abstract

Plastics have changed human lives, finding a broad range of applications from packaging to medical devices. However, plastics can degrade into microscopic forms known as micro- and nanoplastics, which have raised concerns about their accumulation in the environment but mainly about the potential risk to human health. Recently, biodegradable plastic materials have been introduced on the market. These polymers are biodegradable but also bioresorbable and, indeed, are fundamental tools for drug formulations, thanks to their transient ability to pass through biological barriers and concentrate in specific tissues. However, this “other side” of bioplastics raises concerns about their toxic potential, in the form of micro- and nanoparticles, due to easier and faster tissue accumulation, with unknown long-term biological effects. This review aims to provide an update on bioplastic-based particles by analyzing the advantages and drawbacks of their potential use as components of innovative formulations for brain diseases. However, a critical analysis of the literature indicates the need for further studies to assess the safety of bioplastic micro- and nanoparticles despite they appear as promising tools for several nanomedicine applications.

What is the role of microbial biotechnology and genetic engineering in medicine?

“…Among all existing bioplastics, only polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) are fully synthesized by prokaryotic microorganisms (Bordel et al, 2021). Owing to their In particular, the use of PLGA nanoparticles as drug-delivery systems to treat brain diseases has been widely investigated in recent years (Lamparelli et al, 2023). For example, two different preclinical studies have obtained promising results with PLGA nanoparticles loaded with either doxorubicin or chlorotoxin-conjugated morusin for the chemotherapy of glioblastoma (Agarwal et al, 2019;Maksimenko et al, 2019).…”

Ligand-Free Silver Nanoparticles: An Innovative Strategy against Viruses and Bacteria

“…Nanotechnology represents a rapidly growing science that has great potential in various applicative fields, such as drug development, tissue engineering, decontamination processes, information technologies, and manufacturing light and/or resistant materials [15]. Several studies have reported that nanoparticles can be used as valid and new tools to control the phenomenon of drug resistance [16][17][18]. Among the nanoparticles of great interest are silver nanoparticles (AgNPs), extensively described for their excellent antimicrobial properties [19].…”