Toxicity of Carbon Nanotubes as Anti-Tumor Drug Carriers

Hongli Yan,1,2,* Zhifeng Xue,1,2,* Jiarong Xie,1,2 Yixiao Dong,1,2 Zhe Ma,1,2 Xinru Sun,1,2 Dereje Kebebe Borga,1–3 Zhidong Liu,1,2 Jiawei Li2,4 1Engineering Research Center of Modern Chinese Medicine Discovery and Preparation Technique, Ministry of Education, Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Tianjin 301617, People’s Republic of China; 2Institute of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Tianjin 301617, People’s Republic of China; 3School of Pharmacy, Institute of Health Sciences, Jimma University, Jimma, Ethiopia; 4Institute of Chinese Materia Medica, Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Tianjin 301617, People’s Republic of China*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Zhidong LiuTianjin State Key Laboratory of Modern Chinese Medicine, Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, No. 10, Poyang Lake Road, Jinghai, Tianjin 301617, People’s Republic of ChinaTel +86 22 5959 6163Email lonerliuzd@163.comJiawei LiInstitute of Chinese Materia Medica, Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, No. 10, Poyang Lake Road, Jinghai, Tianjin 301617, People’s Republic of ChinaTel +86 22 5959 6352Email lijiawei1981@163.comAbstract: Nanoparticle drug formulations have enormous application prospects owing to achievement of targeted and sustained release drug delivery, improvement in drug solubility and reduction of adverse drug reactions. Recently, a variety of efficient drug nanometer carriers have been developed, among which carbon nanotubes (CNT) have been increasingly utilized in the field of cancer therapy. However, these nanotubes exert various toxic effects on the body due to their unique physical and chemical properties. CNT-induced toxicity is related to surface modification, degree of aggregation in vivo, and nanoparticle concentration. This review has focused on the potential toxic effects of CNTs ut