221
8.6 Conclusions and Future Perspectives
During the last decades, there has been a growing interest for medical applications
of NMs opening a new perspective and offered new strategies toward the development of advanced and highly personalized treatments. However, NMs’ unique physicochemical profiles and subsequent high reactivity can be also responsible for
adverse effects of induction on humans. Thus, concern with proper evaluation of
risks associated with NMs exposure has also risen. To minimize the risk, an accurate
and proper analysis of efficacy and safety of newly developed NMs should be performed. Nonetheless, to date, NMs safety and toxicological testing has not been
performed with a common and rational strategy.
In this chapter, we mainly described the commonly used approaches for in vitro
nanotoxicology, highlighting advantages and limitations of these techniques and
methodologies in order to unveil the challenges related the safety and toxicological
evaluation of NMs. Different analytical methodologies are being used for nanotoxicity assessment purposes from conventional testing protocols to advanced analytical techniques, such as “omics” techniques. However, before performing in vitro
testing on NMs, it is mandatory to execute a prior and extensive physicochemical
profile characterization with a minimum set of features including chemical composition, size, shape, and surface properties. Moreover, NMs interferences within the
assays should be also carefully evaluated aiming to select the best test or modify it
if necessary.
This chapter was also dedicated only to in vitro testing because, to date, most of
the advances and publications in the field of nanotoxicology focuses on the evaluation of biological responses at a cellular level. Nevertheless, in vitro study results
lack further corroboration with in vivo models, in order to provide a complete
understanding on the toxicological profile of NMs in complex living systems.
Globally, despite the progress on the field, there is still an imperative need for
new advances and improvements in analytical techniques and protocols with specificity for nanotoxicological assessment. This demand should consider overall influential factors and limitations of the current assessment protocols, and the
development of appropriate controls and complementary studies. All these factors
will contribute to establish an improved and standardized evaluation resulting in
more reliable information on potential risks of NMs.
Acknowledgments The authors would like to thank the financial support received from
Portuguese Science and Technology Foundation (FCT/MCT) and from European Funds (PRODER/
COMPETE) for the projects M-ERA-NET/0004/2015 and UIDB/04469/2020 (strategic fund), and
co-financed by FEDER, under the Partnership Agreement PT2020. MCT wishes to acknowledge
FCT and Dendropharma – Investigação E Serviços De Intervenção Farmacêutica, Sociedade
Unipessoal Lda. for the individual fellowship (PD/BDE/135086/2017).
8 In Vitro Methodologies for Toxicological Assessment of Drug Delivery Nanocarriers
8.6 Conclusions and Future Perspectives
During the last decades, there has been a growing interest for medical applications
of NMs opening a new perspective and offered new strategies toward the development of advanced and highly personalized treatments. However, NMs’ unique physicochemical profiles and subsequent high reactivity can be also responsible for
adverse effects of induction on humans. Thus, concern with proper evaluation of
risks associated with NMs exposure has also risen. To minimize the risk, an accurate
and proper analysis of efficacy and safety of newly developed NMs should be performed. Nonetheless, to date, NMs safety and toxicological testing has not been
performed with a common and rational strategy.
In this chapter, we mainly described the commonly used approaches for in vitro
nanotoxicology, highlighting advantages and limitations of these techniques and
methodologies in order to unveil the challenges related the safety and toxicological
evaluation of NMs. Different analytical methodologies are being used for nanotoxicity assessment purposes from conventional testing protocols to advanced analytical techniques, such as “omics” techniques. However, before performing in vitro
testing on NMs, it is mandatory to execute a prior and extensive physicochemical
profile characterization with a minimum set of features including chemical composition, size, shape, and surface properties. Moreover, NMs interferences within the
assays should be also carefully evaluated aiming to select the best test or modify it
if necessary.
This chapter was also dedicated only to in vitro testing because, to date, most of
the advances and publications in the field of nanotoxicology focuses on the evaluation of biological responses at a cellular level. Nevertheless, in vitro study results
lack further corroboration with in vivo models, in order to provide a complete
understanding on the toxicological profile of NMs in complex living systems.
Globally, despite the progress on the field, there is still an imperative need for
new advances and improvements in analytical techniques and protocols with specificity for nanotoxicological assessment. This demand should consider overall influential factors and limitations of the current assessment protocols, and the
development of appropriate controls and complementary studies. All these factors
will contribute to establish an improved and standardized evaluation resulting in
more reliable information on potential risks of NMs.
Acknowledgments The authors would like to thank the financial support received from
Portuguese Science and Technology Foundation (FCT/MCT) and from European Funds (PRODER/
COMPETE) for the projects M-ERA-NET/0004/2015 and UIDB/04469/2020 (strategic fund), and
co-financed by FEDER, under the Partnership Agreement PT2020. MCT wishes to acknowledge
FCT and Dendropharma – Investigação E Serviços De Intervenção Farmacêutica, Sociedade
Unipessoal Lda. for the individual fellowship (PD/BDE/135086/2017).
8 In Vitro Methodologies for Toxicological Assessment of Drug Delivery Nanocarriers