Nanomedicine: evolutionary and revolutionary developments in the treatment of certain inflammatory diseases

Nanomedicine, although in a nascent stage of development at present, is already a reality. Several pharmaceutical products using this modern technology are already on the market. Nanotechnology offers many potential benefits to medical research. Nanoparticle-based drug carriers can increase the efficacy and safety of drugs by enhancing capacity, improving solubility, combining multiple drugs, protecting against metabolism, and controlling release. Nanoparticles can also form the basis of multifunctional drug delivery vehicles by combining targeting, imaging, and therapeutic moieties. Multifunctional nanoparticles have tremendous potential to treat human diseases. The use of non-viral carriers (nanoparticles) can also improve the cellular/nuclear uptake of corresponding nucleotides. Preclinical characterization of nanoparticles intended for medical applications is complicated—due to the variety of materials used, their unique surface properties, and multifunctional nature. It is hard to predict what precise course nanomedicine will take in years to come. It is, however, very likely that this relatively young research area will become a driving force behind a vast revolution in medical treatment.