Nanomaterials have been widely used in many fields in the last decades, including electronics, biomedicine, cosmetics, food processing, buildings, and aeronautics. The application of these nanomaterials in the medical field could improve diagnosis, treatment, and prevention techniques. Graphene oxide (GO), an oxidized derivative of graphene, is currently used in biotechnology and medicine for cancer treatment, drug delivery, and cellular imaging. Also, GO is characterized by various physicochemical properties, including nanoscale size, high surface area, and electrical charge. However, the toxic effect of GO on living cells and organs is a limiting factor that limits its use in the medical field. Recently, numerous studies have evaluated the biocompatibility and toxicity of GO in vivo and in vitro. In general, the severity of this nanomaterial’s toxic effects varies according to the administration route, the dose to be administered, the method of GO synthesis, and its physicochemical properties. This review brings together studies on the method of synthesis and structure of GO, characterization techniques, and physicochemical properties. Also, we rely on the toxicity of GO in cellular models and biological systems. Moreover, we mention the general mechanism of its toxicity.

COVID-19 is an infectious disease that affects the respiratory system and is caused by the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. It was first reported in Wuhan, China, on December 31, 2019, and has affected the entire world. This pandemic has caused serious health, economic and social problems. In this situation, the only solution to combat COVID-19 is to accelerate the development of antiviral drugs and vaccines to mitigate the virus and develop better antiviral methods and excellent diagnostic and prevention techniques. With the development of nanotechnology, nanoparticles are being introduced to control COVID-19. Graphene oxide (GO), an oxidized derivative of graphene, is currently used in the medical field to treat certain diseases such as cancer. It is characterized by very important antiviral properties that allow its use in treating certain infectious diseases. The GO antiviral mechanism is discussed by the virus inactivation and/or the host cell receptor or by the physicochemical destruction of viral species. Moreover, the very high surface/volume ratio of GO allows the fixation of biomolecules by simple absorption. This paper summarizes the different studies performed on GO's antiviral activities and discusses GO-based biosensors for virus detection and approaches for prevention.

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Graphene oxide (GO), which is an oxidised derivative of graphene, is considered to be one of the recently emerging and attractive nanomaterials for biomedical applications. It has very interesting properties, such as nanometric size, specific surface area and electrical charge. The prospects for applications are accompanied by major concerns about its biosafety for human health. However, several studies show that nanomaterials used in biomedicine have an impact on health, which has not yet been well studied for GO. Thus, the objective of this study is to evaluate the effects of GO on the nervous system in male mice. After synthesizing these nanoparticles, size analysis was performed using a Mastersizer 3000 laser diffraction apparatus. The behavioural effects of this nanomaterial were studied after intraperitoneal injection of GO to mice at different doses (2 mg/kg and 5 mg/kg) for 5 days, using the hot plate test. The results of the particle size analysis showed that our nanomaterial has a uniform distribution, with an average grain size of about 50 nm, which means that our sample has a nanometric size. On the other hand, the results of the hot plate test showed that there is an analgesic effect. In summary, these results show that GO induced neural effects in mice, but the mechanism by which this occurs requires further study.Keywords: Analgesic effect, graphene oxide, male mice, nervous system, nanometric size.