Emerging Use of Nanotechnology for the Treatment of Liver Diseases
Pp. 47-83 (37)
Melchiorre Cervello, Lydia Giannitrapani, Maria Rita Emma, Giuseppa Augello, Antonella Cusimano, Daniele Balasus, Antonina Azzolina, Maurizio Soresi and Giuseppe Montalto
Abstract
Liver diseases, including viral hepatitis, resulting from hepatitis B or C virus
infection, liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma pose great global health challenges
due to the limited curative treatment options. The application of nanoparticles has emerged
as a rapidly evolving area for safely delivering therapeutic agents (i.e. drugs and nucleic
acid) to treat a range of diseases, including those of the liver. In this chapter, we give an
overview of various nanotechnology approaches which can be employed when treating
liver diseases, focusing in particular on liver infections, fibrosis and cancer.
Keywords:
Drug delivery, HBV, HCC, HCV, liver cirrhosis, liver diseases, liver
fibrosis, nanoparticles.
Affiliation:
Institute of Biomedicine and Molecular Immunology "Alberto Monroy", National Research Council (CNR), Via Ugo La Malfa 153, 90146 Palermo, Italy.