Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39920688›Full record

SynthesisJournal of nanobiotechnology2025

A systematic review of nanocarriers used in medicine and beyond - definition and categorization framework.

Sabine Gressler, Christina Hipfinger, Florian Part, Anna Pavlicek, Christian Zafiu, Bernd Giese

Abstract readSystematic Review
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Journal of nanobiotechnology, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 44 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
44citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

44 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Sabine GresslerDepartment of Landscape, Water and Infrastructure, Institute of Waste Management and Circularity, BOKU University, Muthgasse 107, 1190, Vienna, Austria.
Christina HipfingerDepartment of Landscape, Water and Infrastructure, Institute of Safety and Risk Sciences, BOKU University, Dänenstraße 4, 1190, Vienna, Austria.
Florian PartDepartment of Landscape, Water and Infrastructure, Institute of Waste Management and Circularity, BOKU University, Muthgasse 107, 1190, Vienna, Austria. florian.part@boku.ac.at.
Anna PavlicekDepartment of Biotechnology and Food Science, Institute of Synthetic Bioarchitectures, BOKU University, Muthgasse 11, 1190, Vienna, Austria.
Christian ZafiuDepartment of Landscape, Water and Infrastructure, Institute of Waste Management and Circularity, BOKU University, Muthgasse 107, 1190, Vienna, Austria.
Bernd GieseDepartment of Landscape, Water and Infrastructure, Institute of Safety and Risk Sciences, BOKU University, Dänenstraße 4, 1190, Vienna, Austria.

Funding

German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conversation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection FKZ 3722 66 401 0
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Nanocarriers are transport and encapsulation systems that primarily serve to protect and improve the dispersibility of predominantly hydrophobic active ingredients but also enable their targeted delivery and controlled release at the site of action. Nanocarriers are mainly made of either organic or inorganic materials, but various combinations of materials in complex structures are also under development. Most nanocarriers represent entities that are rationally designed to meet the functional requirements of a specific application. They can therefore be understood as Advanced Materials. Nanocarrier systems are already being used in medicine, cosmetics, agriculture, food, and household products. They are therefore used in a variety of products, ideally designed to be safe and sustainable, and may need to be registered before they can be placed on the market. Inspired by medical research, nanocarriers are also increasingly being used for precision farming (nano-agrochemicals) or products, such as air fresheners or lithium-ion batteries, and could thus be released into the environment in large quantities. To enable the identification of critical nanocarriers in subsequent investigations, a comprehensive literature review of the broad and heterogeneous research field of nanocarriers is provided, as well as an approach for categorization based on the origin and chemical composition of their constituent materials. A definition of nanocarriers based on size (1-1000 nm) and function is also proposed for their risk assessment.

Indexed as

Drug CarriersNanoparticlesAnimalsDrug Delivery SystemsHumansParticle SizeDrug CarriersAdvanced materialsNanocarrierNanocarrier categorizationNanoencapsulationTargeted delivery systems

Identifiers

PMID39920688
PMCPMC11804063

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.