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Nanozymes in the Treatment of Pediatric Inflammatory Diseases: Opportunities and Challenges
Jiayan Zhang1, Jing Zhou1, Chuan Zhang1
1Nanomedicine Innovation Research and Transformation Institute, Affiliated Hospital of North Sichuan Medical College, Nanchong 637000, China.
Insights
Nanozymes offer new solutions for pediatric inflammatory diseases by targeting oxidative stress and inflammation. Further research is needed for safe and effective clinical translation in children.
Area of Science:
- Biomedical Engineering
- Nanotechnology
- Pediatric Medicine
Background:
- Pediatric inflammatory diseases present complex treatment challenges due to immature immune systems and disease complexity.
- Current treatments for conditions like NEC, JIA, and asthma have limitations including poor precision, toxicity, and safety concerns.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review the application of nanozymes in diagnosing and treating pediatric inflammatory diseases.
- To explore nanozyme design principles for pediatric use, their mechanisms in combating oxidative stress, and their therapeutic potential.
Main Methods:
- Systematic review of recent research on nanozymes for pediatric inflammatory diseases.
- Analysis of nanozyme design, antioxidant mechanisms (ROS scavenging, macrophage polarization, NLRP3 inflammasome inhibition), and theranostic applications.
- Discussion of challenges and future directions for clinical translation.
Main Results:
- Nanozymes can be rationally designed for pediatric physiological characteristics, optimizing biocompatibility and catalytic activity.
- Antioxidant nanozymes effectively mitigate oxidative stress and modulate the inflammatory microenvironment in pediatric disease models.
- Nanozymes demonstrate potential as multifunctional theranostic platforms with antioxidant, antibacterial, and targeted drug delivery capabilities.
Conclusions:
- Nanozymes show promise for treating pediatric inflammatory diseases by addressing oxidative stress and inflammation.
- Clinical translation requires overcoming challenges in safety, dosage control, and personalized delivery.
- Future nanozymes should be intelligent, responsive, and biodegradable for enhanced pediatric precision medicine.
Abstract:
Pediatric inflammatory diseases, such as neonatal necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC), juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA), and asthma, pose numerous challenges in clinical treatment due to their complex pathogenesis and the still-developing stage of children's immune systems. These challenges include poor precision, strong toxic and side effects, and unclear long-term biological safety. In recent years, the development of nanozymes has provided new opportunities to address these issues. This review systematically summarizes the latest research progress of nanozymes in the diagnosis and treatment of pediatric inflammatory diseases. Firstly, we focus on the rational design principles of nanozymes tailored to the physiological characteristics of children, including the regulation of their catalytic activity and strategies for optimizing biocompatibility. Subsequently, we deeply analyze the core roles of these antioxidant nanozymes in breaking the vicious cycle of oxidative stress and reshaping the inflammatory microenvironment through multiple mechanisms, such as scavenging reactive oxygen species (ROS), regulating macrophage polarization, and inhibiting the pro-inflammatory protein (NLRP3 inflammasome). Moreover, we detail the successful applications of nanozymes in various typical pediatric inflammatory disease models and emphasize their potential as a multifunctional theranostic platform in achieving synergistic antioxidant, antibacterial, and targeted drug delivery. Finally, this article prospectively discusses the key challenges that nanozymes must address in the process of clinical translation for children, including long-term biological safety, precise dose control, and individualized drug delivery, and looks forward to the development of intelligent responsive and biodegradable nanozymes. This review aims to provide theoretical basis and reference ideas for the in-depth exploration and clinical application of nanozymes as innovative nanomedicines in the field of pediatric precision medicine in the future.
