Toxicity and Surface Modification of Dendrimers: A Critical Review

Compared to other nano polymers, dendrimers have novel three-dimensional, synthetic hyperbranched, nano-polymeric structures. These supramolecular dendritic structures have a high degree of significant surface and core functionality in the transportation of drugs for targeted therapy, specifically in host-guest response, gene transfer therapy, and imaging of biological systems. However, there are conflicting shreds of evidence regarding biological safety and dendrimers toxicity due to their positive charge at the surface. It includes cytotoxicity, hemolytic toxicity, haematological toxicity, immunogenicity, and in vivo toxicity. Surface modification of the dendrimer group is one of the methods to resolve these issues. This review aimed at investigating different strategies that can reduce toxicity and improve the biocompatibility of different dendrimers. From that viewpoint, we broaden the structural and safe characteristics of the dendrimers in the biomedical and pharmaceutical fields.