Antioxidative nanomaterials and biomedical applications

Abstract Oxidative stress, as results of deregulated production and accumulation of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species, is a common hallmark in a multitude of human diseases. Enormous studies have demonstrated that such imbalance of redox homeostasis is implicated in both disease initiation and progress. The development of antioxidants to target overexpressed reactive oxygen and/or nitrogen species, which is referred to as antioxidant therapy, has thus represented an important therapeutic option for the oxidative stress relevant diseases. Over the past decade, antioxidative nanotechnologies have been emerging as an alternative strategy and have shown many unique advantages over conventional antioxidants (such as enzymes and small molecules), owing to their advantageous pharmacokinetics and biodistribution, stable antioxidative activity, and more importantly, intrinsic multiple radicals scavenging properties. This review provides a comprehensive and up-to-date overview on antioxidative nanomaterials in terms of the category, their antioxidative activities and underlying mechanisms, and the potential biomedical applications. In addition, the challenges in this exciting field and future perspectives are also discussed.