Biomedical Applications of Green Synthesized-Metallic Nanoparticles: A Review

Abstract

Advances in the field of nanoscience and nanotechnology to modulate materials at nanoscale level has continued to have great impact on different disciplines of science and engineering as well as agriculture and medical fields. The surge in the utilization of benign and non-toxic biomolecules to engineer enhanced biocompatible nanomaterials has contributed to a large extent to the applications of nanomaterials in healthcare; an emerging sub-discipline termed nanomedicine. Among the several nanomaterials that have been produced, metallic nanoparticles occupy prime position owing to their optical, catalytic and biological characteristics. These nanoparticles, which are of different types existing singly as mono-metallic nanoparticles or in two or more metals as alloys have found extremely useful applications as antimicrobial, antioxidant, anticancer, antidiabetic, anticoagulant and thrombolytic agents amongst others. In this review, an attempt is made to project the different applications of green synthesized metallic nanoparticles in diverse areas of biomedicine, including the discussion of issues of toxicity and prospects of nanotechnology in biomedical field.