Reviewer: Marc Ilies, PhD (Temple University School of Pharmacy)
Description: This book covers the fast-growing area of nanotechnology and nanoparticle-based therapeutics. It provides a complete overview of all aspects related to nanoparticle formation, process technologies employed for their fabrication, characterization, pharmacokinetics of the fate and toxicity of the nanoparticles, regulatory aspects, and environmental hazards associated with their use.
Purpose: The purpose of the book is to provide fundamental knowledge on the experiential and experimental aspects of different nanoparticles and nanotechnologies and insight into their use in the diagnosis and treatment of various disease states. Throughout its 18 chapters authored by an international team of scientists, the book clearly meets its objectives, providing an updated overview of all aspects related to nanoparticle production, properties, in vitro and in vivo dynamics, bio-fate, and toxicity.
Audience: The book is intended for chemists, biochemists, biologists, pharmaceutical scientists, and medical doctors interested in the latest nanotechnologies and nanoparticle-based therapeutics. The editors have succeeded in gathering an international team of experts who have detailed all aspects related to nanoparticle synthesis, properties, and uses with updated references, many from their own work.
Features: The book is organized into three main parts. The first part of the book covers the synthesis and characterization of nanoparticles for drug delivery, detailing different classes/types of nanoparticles available, their synthesis, and their physicochemical characterization. It also presents different fabrication designs, the process technologies employed, and convolutions in the scale-up of nanotherapeutics. A full chapter details the surface engineering of nanoparticles for inducing multifunctionality, while other sections detail the cellular interactions of various nanoparticles within the vasculature, their pharmacokinetics, and their bio-fate. The second part of the book focuses on the application of nanoparticles in drug delivery, detailing silver, silica, superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles, albumin nanoparticles, radioactive nanoparticles, different biodegradable self-assembled nanocarriers, bioinspired nanoparticles, and nanocrystals as drug delivery vehicles. The third part of the book presents environmental and regulatory aspects of different nanotechnologies and nanoparticles, detailing the biological toxicity, fate, and potential hazards of nanoparticles in the environment. The chapters contain many tables, charts, and color figures to ease the organization and understanding of the material. A comprehensive index helps the readers quickly locate the desired information within different sections and chapters of the book.
Assessment: This book is comprehensive, up to date, and well organized and illustrated. It covers all aspects and technologies relevant to nanoparticle therapeutic use and is expected to become a reference in the field of nanotechnology.
