Veterinary World, 2010, Vol.3(10):477-480 REVIEW Applications of Nanotechnology in Veterinary Medicine

In the recent years the application of nanotechnology in human and veterinary medicine has shown a great progress. Scientists foresee that this progress in the field of nanotechnology could represent a major breakthrough in addressing some of the technical challenges faced by human and veterinary profession. While the great hopes of nanomedicine are disease detection and new pharmaceuticals for humans, veterinary applications of nanotechnology may become the proving ground for untried and more controversial techniques from nanocapsule vaccines to sex selection in breeding. Nanotechnology has the potential to impact not only the way we live, but also the way we practice veterinary medicine. Examples of potential applications in animal agriculture and veterinary medicine include disease diagnosis and treatment delivery systems, new tools for molecular and cellular breeding, the security of animal food products, modification of animal waste, pathogen detection, and many more. Existing research has demonstrated the feasibility of introducing nanoshells and nanotubes into animals to seek and destroy targeted cells. These building blocks of nanotechnology are expected to be integrated into systems over the next couple of decades on a commercial basis. This article describes some of the principal areas of nanotechnology currently being undertaken in the world of medicine.The main purposes of this article are to trigger the interest of discoveries of veterinary profession in the field of nanotechnology and to provide a glimpse at potential important targets for nanotechnology in the field of veterinary medicine. Also it is important to mention that because nanotechnology is at a very early stage of development, it may take several years to perform the necessary research and conduct clinical trials for obtaining meaningful results. This tool as it develops over the next several decades will have major implications in veterinary and animal science.


Introduction
nanometer, nanobot and nanotechnology.Nanotechnology, as a new enabling technology, In the era of new health related technologies, has the potential to revolutionize our agriculture and veterinary profession will enter a phase of new and food systems.Food systems security, disease incredible transformations.The major contributor to treatment delivery systems, new tools for molecular those changes is our recent ability to measure, and cellular biology, new materials for pathogen manipulate and organize things at the nanoscale level.
detection and protection of the environment are Our understanding of the principles that rule the examples of the important links of nanotechnology to nanoscale world will be of great impact on veterinary the science and engineering of agriculture and food research leading to new discoveries never before systems.imagined.
Nanotechnology can be viewed as a series of Nanotechnology, shortened to "nanotech", is the technologies that are used individually or in study of the controlling of matter on an atomic and combination to make products and applications and to molecular scale.Generally nanotechnology deals with better understand science (Gordon and Sagman, structures of the size 100 nanometers or smaller in at least one dimension, and involves developing 2003).Nanotechnology materials can be grouped into materials or devices within that size.
three main areas: raw materials, nanostructured A simple definition of nanotechnology is the art of materials and the group composed by nanotubes and manipulating matter, atom by atom.This new area of fullerenes.The raw material includes nanoparticles science can provide us with the ability to assemble and nanocrystalline materials that are readily things from atomic and molecular blocks.The term manufactured and substitute for less performing bulk nano is derived from the Greek word dwarf and is materials.Nanostructured materials are typically usually combined with a noun to form words such as processed forms of raw material that provide special shapes and functionality.Examples of nanostructured nanoparticles in the 1 to 100 nanometer size range materials include the quantum dots and the instead of bigger micro particles (existing molecules), dendrimers.Nanotubes and fullerenes can produce they have a larger surface area for the same volume, materials that are 100 times stronger than steel, more smaller pore size, improved solubility, and different conductive than copper, and can be safely used in structural properties.This can improve both the some medical applications.
diffusion and degradation characteristics of the encapsulation material.

Nanomedicine
Another class of drug delivery system is The term nanomedicine refers to the use of nanomaterials that can carry drugs to their destination molecular machine systems (i.e.nanobots) to address sites and also have functional properties.Certain medical problems, and to the use of molecular nanostructures can be controlled to link with a drug, a knowledge to maintain and improve health at a molecule or an imaging agent, then attract specific molecular scale.As a specialized field within nanocells and release their sustances when required.technology, nanomedicine would work towards bodily Because of their size, nanostructures have the ability to repair through the use of engineered, in vivo probes enter cells, as cells will typically internalize materials and sensors that would operate, in a semi-permanent below 100 nanometers.fashion, within the body.The development of nano-Nanoemulsion medicine will have extraordinary implications for the veterinary profession, because it will change the Soybean oil in its standard form has very few definition of disease and the way we do diagnosis and medical applications.But once it is emulsified with treatment of medical conditions.
detergents to form nanodrops with measurements less than 600 nanometers, it can act as a very potent Nanopharmaceuticals destroyer of pathogens.Its mode of action is not One of the areas of veterinary medicine that chemical, but a physical one.When the oil nanodrops would benefit most from the nanotechnology research contact the membranes of bacteria or envelope is the field of pharmacology (Feneque, 2000).The viruses, the drops surface tension forces a merger with creation and manipulation of new synthetic molecules the membrane, blowing it apart and killing the can provide us with new therapeutical compounds to pathogen.One very important characteristic of the treat diseases in our pet population.These new nanoemulsion is that they don't affect cell structures of compounds for example would protect animals from higher organisms, which make it ideal to use in animals viral or bacterial infections and accelerate wound and humans.While the nanoemulsion is entirely safe healing.Also these new compounds could carry drugs when applied externally, unfortunately scientists had and genes into cells, making treatment of diseases discovered that the oil droplets can also destroy more efficacious.
erythrocytes and sperm cells.The reason seems to be One of the most promising and productive areas that both types of cells lack the support structures that of nanotechnology are the nanopharmaceuticals.Most make other cells invulnerable to the effects of the of pet diseases one day will be addressed by the use of nanodrops.This means that the nanoemulsion can't be nanopharmaceuticals (Feneque,2003).Research in use intravenously.If nanoemulsion research continues the area of nanopharmaceuticals would provide new showing promising results, in the near future we may advances in the area of drug delivery systems.These see bactericidal and viricidal products that can be use systems have an impact on the rate of absorption, topically in animals and humans.distribution, metabolism, and excretion of drugs or Dendrimeters other substances in the body.They must allow the drug One of the most important and promising areas to bind to its target receptor and influence the of medical research of today is the study of receptor's action.Drug delivery systems have severe nanomaterials known as dendrimers.They are restrictions on the materials and production process synthetic polymers, a thousand times smaller than that can be used.The drug delivery material must be cells.Dendrimers can be synthesized in various compatible and bind easy with the drug, and be bioresorbable.The production process must respect predetermined sizes and can interact with biological stringent conditions on processing and chemistry that agents by modifying their surfaces properties.Three won't degrade the drug, and still provide a cost effective very important properties of dendrimers make them an product.
excellent candidate as pharmacological agents.First, One of the major classes of drug delivery they can hold a drug's molecules in their structure and systems are materials that encapsulate drugs to serve as a delivery vehicle.Second, they can enter protect them during transit through the body.When cells very easily and release drugs right on target.Third encapsulation materials are produced from and most important, dendrimers don't trigger immune system responses.used to detect and track biological molecules.They not Dendrimers have a lot to offer to the field of only can stay for a prolonged period of time, they are Veterinary Medicine.In the future one of the major also brighter and easier to visualize than organic dyes.They can be very helpful in visualizing cell pathways, contributions of these synthetic nanomaterials will be which is essential for our understanding of how certain the diagnoses, treatment and eradication of malignant drugs are going to behave in an animal's body.In tumors that commonly affect the small animal geriatric addition to their usefulness in identifying and tracking population.They can serve as a drug delivery vehicle molecules, they promise faster, more flexible and less for drugs or radioactive isotopes directly into a tumor costly tests for clinical analysis.microvasculature, which may be considered as an B. Immunoassay: alternative to direct irradiation of tumors with fewer side Immunoassay technology capitalizes on the effects.
characteristic way that antibodies attach themselves to Besides targeting tumor cells and drug delivery invading pathogens in the body.Antibodies recognize systems, dendrimers have demonstrated promising and bind to antigens with great specificity.One of the results as tools for MRI imaging (Margerum, et al., diagnostic applications of this behavior is the 1997 and Kim and Zimmerman, 1998) and gene conventional immunoassay.In a routine immunoassay transfer techniques.Also dendr imer-based test we expose a solution, such as blood plasma for nanocomposites are been studied as possible example, to a tray containing antibodies that bind with a antimicrobial agents against Staphylococcus aureus, specific antigen under investigation.When the Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Escherichia coli.
antibodies bind to the antigen, the test changes color.Vaccines: This system is used to identify and diagnose various Another area that probably would benefit from conditions that afflict the animal population.nanotechnology research is the production of Unfortunately, we haven't produced a fast and vaccines.The most recent studies indicate that reliable whole blood immunoassay yet, in part because synthetic oligodeoxynucleotides and antigens in blood is so viscous and murky that it interferes with the biodegradable nanospheres can be use as an chemical reactions in the test solution and make it alternative approach for immunization (Diwan, et al., difficult to get accurate readings.Instead, clinicians 2002).A better immune response seems to be must purify the blood to remove these contaminants obtained with biodegradable nanospheres then with before proceeding with the immunoassay, a time vaccines produced by conventional methods.
consuming step that typically takes an hour or more.

Diagnostic Tools
Nanotechnology research may have found a way to Commonly available diagnostic tests that are overcome the problems with whole blood immunousually sent to outside laboratories and can take from assays.Nanotechnology researchers have developed hours to days to provide the results may be considered a new method of testing whole blood using optically obsolete sooner than expected.Nanotechnology can active gold-coated glass particles commonly known as bring to our veterinary hospitals cheaper, faster and gold nanoshells (Hirsch, et al., 2003).Nanoshells are more precise diagnostic tools.also being tested as a noninvasive way to detect A. Quantum dot particles: tumors.Since they are gold coated, nanoshells would Quantum dot particles are tiny crystals which are not trigger an immunity response.Scientists have a ten-millionth of an inch in size.These particles enable found that they can attach to the shells antibodies that powerful new approaches to genetic analysis, drug would lock onto specific tumor cells.The nanoshells discovery and disease diagnostics.Today quantum are then injected into the body of a laboratory animal, a dots are considered an important advancement in our light source is turned on (a laser or infrared light for understanding of how genes work.Scientists believe example) and they observe if and where the nanoshells that in a couple of years these particles will be accumulate.But nanoshells are more than a marker, it instrumental in allowing researchers to monitor turns out.It has been found that they could be used to reactions of cells to certain drugs or viruses.Some destroy tumors as well.Like a magnifying glass, scientists envision the possibility of injecting quantum nanoshells concentrate light beamed at them and heat dots into animal bodies.Once injected into the body up.Their studies showed the shells killed tumor cells they may detect cells that are not working normally.
without harming skin or nearby healthy tissue.While Because they respond to light, it may be possible to more studies with this novel optical material need to be affect the behavior of the dot once it is inside the cell.
done, we can say today that nanoshells will play an For example, they may be able to respond to a flash important role in the future of veterinary care.and heat up enough to destroy cancerous cells.
Human R&D support Quantum dots offer many technical advantages over traditional fluorescent dyes, which are commonly When it comes to technologies like gene therapy, tissue engineering or nanotechnology, there is no infancy, and a number of hurdles remain prior to doubt their use on veterinary medicine will yield bringing these therapies into the clinical arena.immediate insights for human medical research.One Encouraging commercial organizations to make good of the newest fields of research that could have a and useful products based on these technologies can positive influence on the diagnosis and treatment of be crucial for the ultimate benefit of veterinary cancer is nanotechnology.Thanks to nanotechnology, profession.The real challenge to veterinary medicine is a complete new set of tools for the diagnosis and to understand and apply these technologies in a way treatment of cancer in the pet population will be that will provide maximum benefits to animal's health.available.For example, with the use of magnetic Nanotechnology will raise our technological resonance imaging (MRI) along with fluorescents capabilities to a new level, improving pet health care nanoparticles researchers are able to visualize the and quality of life.It will also increase our standard of lymphatic drainage of mice affected with breast cancer.
living and it will drive further economic expansion into This technique may have a very important application the veterinary profession. in the diagnosis and treatment of human breast cancer.
References Conclusions