Nitroprusside─Expanding the Potential Use of an Old Drug Using Nanoparticles

For more than 70 years, sodium nitroprusside (SNP) has been used to treat severe hypertension in hospital emergency settings. During this time, a few other clinical uses have also emerged such as in the treatment of acute heart failure as well as improving mitral incompetence and in the intra- and perioperative management during heart surgery. This drug functions by releasing nitric oxide (NO), which modulates several biological processes with many potential therapeutic applications. However, this small molecule has a short lifetime, and it has been administered through the use of NO donor molecules such as SNP. On the other hand, SNP also has some setbacks such as the release of cyanide ions, high water solubility, and very fast NO release kinetics. Currently, there are many drug delivery strategies that can be applied to overcome many of these limitations, providing novel opportunities for the use of old drugs, including SNP. This Perspective describes some nitroprusside properties and highlights new potential therapeutic uses arising from the use of drug delivery systems, mainly silica-based nanoparticles. There is a series of great opportunities to further explore SNP in many medical issues as reviewed, which deserves a closer look by the scientific community.