#7 Exploring the biosafety profile of novel biopoymeric nanoparti- cles in drug targeting

Abstract

Biomaterials can be considered safe, but at nano-size even a biomaterial can pose serious toxic issues to humans as well as a threat to the environment when compared to their macro or micro-sized counterparts. In humans, due to small size of nanocarriers, they can easily cross biological membrane and long exposure leads to their accumulation in cells, tissues and blood. Nanocarriers have unique surface chemistry and a huge surface area. Their highly reactive surface acts as a catalyst in the formation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), which in turn causes the generation of increased oxidative stress leading to lipid peroxidation, mitochondrial and DNA damage and ultimate cell death. Thus it is essential to establish the safety profile of a nanoformulation before it can be a part of the biomedical application. So, cytotoxicity and hemocompatibility of blank novel lignin nanoparticles were studied to ascertain the safety of lignin nanoparticles and the Drosophila melanogaster model was used to study the possible genotoxicity of blank nanoparticles causing behavioural and phenotypical alterations. After establishing the safety profile of optimized blank lignin nanoparticles (BLNPs), exhaustive blood compatibility studies on BLNPs, were carried out as these particles were designed for the intravenous administration.