Applications of inorganic nanoparticles in diabetes

2016 Spring.Includes bibliographical references.Diabetes Mellitus (DM) is an endocrine and metabolic disease that has become a global emergency because of the rapid rise in morbidity and mortality rates worldwide. Since the direct delivery of biomolecules, such as insulin, to treat DM is inefficient and subjected to enzymatic degradation, nanotechnology and nanomedicine research have been devoted to the development of more effective methods to treat DM. Nanoparticles (NP), organic, inorganic, or hybrid, have served as potential carrier for safe and efficient transport for insulin. Additionally, several NP have biological activities that help treat and/or prevent DM and diabetes complications, such as antioxidant, anti-apoptotic, or insulin-mimetic activities. Moreover, physicochemical properties of some NP allow them to be used in diagnostic tools for potential diagnosis or monitoring purposes. This work highlights the applications of inorganic NP such as, gold, selenium, silver, calcium phosphate, zinc oxide, cerium oxide, and iron oxide and in the treatment or diagnosis of DM