Pleiotropic functions of antioxidant nanoparticles for longevity and medicine

Nanomedicine is a rapidly emerging interdisciplinary field in which medicine is coupled with nanotechnology tools and techniques for advanced therapy with the aid of molecular knowledge and its associated treatment tools. This field creates a myriad of opportunities for improving the health and life of humans. Unchecked chronic inflammation, oxidative stress, and free-radical damage causes proportionate aging and other related diseases/disorders. Antioxidants act as free radical scavengers, singlet oxygen ((1)O2) quenchers, peroxides and other ROS inactivators, as well as metal ion chelators, quenchers of secondary oxidation products and inhibitors of pro-oxidative enzymes. Nanoparticles possessing antioxidative properties have recently emerged as potent therapeutic agents owing to their potential applications in life sciences for improvement of the quality of life and longevity. Accordingly, the use of antioxidant nanoparticles/nanomaterials is burgeoning in biomedical, pharmaceutical, cosmetic, food and nutrition fields. Due to the smaller size, greater permeability, increased circulation ability and biocompatibility of these nanoparticles to alleviate oxidative stress, they have become indispensable agents for controlling aging and its associated pathologies, including neurodegenerative diseases, cardiovascular diseases, and pulmonary diseases. This review discusses antioxidant nanoparticles, which are nano-dimensioned metals, non-metals, metal oxides, synthetic and natural antioxidants and polymers, and the molecular/biochemical mechanisms underpinning their activities.