Carbon nanotubes: Fibrillar pharmacology

Fibrillar nanostructures have been significantly used for biomedical research to understand both of the mechanisms involved in pathological conditions and of the interactions between nanoparticles and the biological environment. Filamentous nanomaterials are designed as transporters of therapeutic and/or diagnostic agents with much-wanted control over in vivo tissue navigation, cargo release and clearance profile. The tissue distribution, accumulation and excretion of nanomaterials are dynamic processes that determine the balance between pharmacological activity and unwanted toxicity. Ruggiero, National Academy Science USA, has reported that no active transport mechanism is responsible for the glomerular translocation and that single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNT) follow rapid pharmacokinetics, which eliminates most of the injected dose from the body within minutes. Only a small fraction is reabsorbed into the tubule cells of the kidneys and recycled into the bloodstream, leading to slower, second-phase, and excretion rates.