Background: Nanomedicine is a field of science that uses nanoscale materials for the diagnosis and treatment of human disease. It has emerged as an important aspect of the therapeutics, but at the same time, also raises concerns regarding the safety of the nanomaterials involved. Recent applications of functionalized biodegradable nanomaterials have significantly improved the safety profile of nanomedicine. Objective: Our goal is to evaluate different types of biodegradable nanomaterials that have been functionalized for their biomedical applications. Method: In this review, we used PubMed as our literature source and selected recently published studies on biodegradable nanomaterials and their applications in nanomedicine. Results: We found that biodegradable polymers are commonly functionalized for various purposes. Their property of being naturally degraded under biological conditions allows these biodegradable nanomaterials to be used for many biomedical purposes, including bio-imaging, targeted drug delivery, implantation and tissue engineering. The degradability of these nanoparticles can be utilized to control cargo release, by allowing efficient degradation of the nanomaterials at the target site while maintaining nanoparticle integrity at off-target sites. Conclusion: While each biodegradable nanomaterial has its advantages and disadvantages, with careful design and functionalization, biodegradable nanoparticles hold great future in nanomedicine.

Nanotechnologies have attracted increasing attention in their application in medicine, especially in the development of new drug delivery systems. With the help of nano-sized carriers, drugs can reach specific diseased areas, prolonging therapeutic efficacy while decreasing undesired side-effects. In addition, recent nanotechnological advances, such as surface stabilization and stimuli-responsive functionalization have also significantly improved the targeting capacity and therapeutic efficacy of the nanocarrier assisted drug delivery system. In this review, we evaluate recent advances in the development of different nanocarriers and their applications in therapeutics delivery.

Oxidative stress plays a key role in many physiological and pathological conditions. The intracellular oxidative homeostasis is tightly regulated by the reactive oxygen species production and the intracellular defense mechanisms. Increased oxidative stress could alter lipid, DNA, and protein, resulting in cellular inflammation and programmed cell death. Evidences show that oxidative stress plays an important role in the progression of various cardiovascular diseases, such as atherosclerosis, heart failure, cardiac arrhythmia, and ischemia-reperfusion injury. There are a number of therapeutic options to treat oxidative stress-associated cardiovascular diseases. Well known antioxidants, such as nutritional supplements, as well as more novel antioxidants have been studied. In addition, novel therapeutic strategies using miRNA and nanomedicine are also being developed to treat various cardiovascular diseases. In this article, we provide a detailed description of oxidative stress. Then, we will introduce the relationship between oxidative stress and several cardiovascular diseases. Finally, we will focus on the clinical implications of oxidative stress in cardiovascular diseases.

The main culprit in the pathogenesis of ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury is the overproduction of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂), the most abundant form of ROS produced during I/R, causes inflammation, apoptosis and subsequent tissue damages. Here, we report H₂O₂-responsive antioxidant nanoparticles formulated from copolyoxalate containing vanillyl alcohol (VA) (PVAX) as a novel I/R-targeted nanotherapeutic agent. PVAX was designed to incorporate VA and H₂O₂-responsive peroxalate ester linkages covalently in its backbone. PVAX nanoparticles therefore degrade and release VA, which is able to reduce the generation of ROS and exert anti-inflammatory and anti-apoptotic activity. In hind-limb I/R and liver I/R models in mice, PVAX nanoparticles specifically reacted with overproduced H₂O₂ and exerted highly potent anti-inflammatory and anti-apoptotic activities that reduced cellular damages. Therefore, PVAX nanoparticles have tremendous potential as nanotherapeutic agents for I/R injury and H₂O₂-associated diseases.

Kim NH, et al. Korean Circ J. 2010 Jul;40(7):299-305. http://dx.doi.org/10.4070/kcj.2010.40.7.299