Emerging Anesthetic Nanomedicines: Current State and Challenges

Shuo Zhang,1,* Yishu Wang,1,* Shuai Zhang,1 Chengqi Huang,1 Qiyang Ding,2 Ji Xia,2 Daocheng Wu,1 Wei Gao2 1The Key Laboratory of Biomedical Information Engineering of Ministry of Education, School of Life Science and Technology, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, 710049, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Anesthesiology & Center for Brain Science & Center for Translational Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital of Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, 710049, People’s Republic of China*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Daocheng Wu, The Key Laboratory of Biomedical Information Engineering of Ministry of Education, School of Life Science and Technology, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, 710049, People’s Republic of China, Tel/Fax +86-29-82663941, Email wudaocheng@mail.xjtu.edu.cn Wei Gao, Department of Anesthesiology & Center for Brain Science & Center for Translational Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital of Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, 710049, People’s Republic of China, Tel +86 15209225834, Email gaowei2906@xjtufh.edu.cnAbstract: Anesthetics, which include both local and general varieties, are a unique class of drugs widely utilized in clinical surgery to alleviate pain and promote relaxation in patients. Although numerous anesthetics and their traditional formulations are available in the market, only a select few exhibit excellent anesthetic properties that meet clinical requirements. The main challenges are the potential toxic and adverse effects of anesthetics, as well as the presence of the blood-brain barrier (BBB), which makes it difficult for most general anesthetics to effectively penetrate to the brain. Loading anesthetics onto nanocarriers as anesthetic nanomedicines might address these challenges and improve anesthesia effectiveness, reduce toxic and adverse effects, while significantly enhance the efficiency of general anesthetics passing through the