Page 11 - COH Newsletter

11

Scientific Corner

Nanomedicine for COVID-19: The Role of Nanotechnology in the

Treatment and Diagnosis of COVID-19

Dr. Hatem Abushammala, Assistant Professor, Environmental and Public Health
Department

Nanomedicine has shown great potential in designing drug delivery systems and biosensors to diagnose
and treat several diseases. Therefore, exploring its potential for COVID-19 treatment and diagnosis is of
great importance. The COVID-19 virus has a diameter of 60 – 140 nm, which is in the diameter range of
many well-known organic and inorganic nanoparticles such as lipid nanoparticles, polymeric micelles
and nanoparticles, graphene, quantum dots, and gold nanoparticles.

Conventional COVID-19 diagnosis methods are based on the detection of nucleic acid. Techniques such as
polymerase chain reaction (PCR) have some limitations, including low sensitivity, high false negatives, lack
of specificity, and the length of time needed to get the results. Nanoparticles can offer solutions to some
of these problems. Nanoparticles interact with the constituents of the virus in specific ways providing a
clear and distinct response that can be easily and precisely detected using a variety of equipment. For
instance, gold nanoparticles tend to aggregate when they target the N gene of the virus.

Nanoparticles are also advantageous for the design, delivery, and administration of COVID-19 vaccines.
Nanoparticles have been used in H1N1, H1N2, and H5N1 vaccines. They can also be used as antiviral
agents as they directly prevent receptor binding and cell entry of viruses, as well as viral internalization.
For example, nanoparticles have shown therapeutic results against HIV, influenza, herpes virus, Zika
virus, and transmissible gastroenteritis virus.

Nanomedicine has proven its value for the treatment of several diseases. However, it is important to
highlight the toxicity of some nanoparticles, as unexpected biological properties can be created by
slight changes in their size, shape, charge, and surface chemistry.

References:
• Vahedifard, F., Chakravarthy, K. (2021). Nanomedicine for COVID-19: The Role of Nanotechnology
in the Treatment and Diagnosis of COVID-19. Emergent Materials, Springer: Published: 13 February
2021. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42247-021-00168-8

Abu Dhabi University | The College of Health Sciences E-Magazine | Issue 1 2021-2022 Academic Year