Recent Advances in Nanomaterials for the Treatment of Acute Kidney Injury

Abstract

Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a serious clinical syndrome with high morbidity, elevated mortality, and poor prognosis, commonly considered a “sword of Damocles” for hospitalized patients, especially those in intensive care units. Oxidative stress, inflammation, and apoptosis, caused by the excessive production of reactive oxygen species (ROS), play a key role in AKI progression. Hence, the investigation of effective and safe antioxidants and inflammatory regulators to scavenge overexpressed ROS and regulate excessive inflammation has become a promising therapeutic option. However, the unique physiological structure and complex pathological alterations in the kidneys render traditional therapies ineffective, impeding the residence and efficacy of most antioxidant and anti-inflammatory small molecule drugs within the renal milieu. Recently, nanotherapeutic interventions have emerged as a promising and prospective strategy for AKI, overcoming traditional treatment dilemmas through alterations in size, shape, charge, and surface modifications. This Review succinctly summarizes the latest advancements in nanotherapeutic approaches for AKI, encompassing nanozymes, ROS scavenger nanomaterials, MSC-EVs, and nanomaterials loaded with antioxidants and inflammatory regulator. Following this, strategies aimed at enhancing biocompatibility and kidney targeting are introduced. Furthermore, a brief discussion on the current challenges and future prospects in this research field is presented, providing a comprehensive overview of the evolving landscape of nanotherapeutic interventions for AKI.

GSH-Responsive Liposomes with Heat Shock Protein Regulatory Ability for Efficient Photodynamic/Photothermal Combined Therapy of Tumors

“…In biomedicine, nanoscale size has the advantages of penetration and diffusion and facilitates noninvasive uptake in vivo . It has been found that tumor cells are rich in vascular structure, and their endothelial interstitial space is sparse and incomplete; thus, macromolecules and lipids are able to selectively pass through and stay in the tumor cells. − Therefore, if the selectivity of AIE materials is improved through the use of nanocarrier technology, so that the AIE materials are more aggregated in the tumor cells and the drug concentration in the tumor is increased, the enhanced antitumor therapy can be better achieved. Liposome is a spherical bilayer vesicle structure, whose phospholipid bilayer has an outer surface layer formed by a hydrophilic head and a hydrophobic tail in the middle part of the membrane; due to this special structure, the liposome is therefore capable of carrying not only hydrophilic substances but also hydrophobic substances. − In practical applications, a variety of smart-responsive nanocarriers can be prepared by combining stimulus-responsive factors (e.g., pH, temperature, enzymes, etc.)…”