Applications of nanotechnology in the fight against coronavirus disease 2019

Abstract

Background and aim: In early December 2019 started coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in China by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection which transmitted from bats to humans. According to WHO, there are more than two hundred million confirmed cases of COVID-19 including more than seven million deaths, so we desperately need to discover an effective treatment to eliminate SARS-CoV-2 infection permanently. One of the most promising technologies for the treatment of COVID-19 is Nanotechnology. Herein we tried to summarize usages of nanotechnology in fighting of COVID-19 and to focus on the challenges, advantages, and disadvantages of the application of this technology. Methods: Searching of PubMed, SCOPUS and Google scholar by using a specific search strategy “(COVID 19 OR COVID-19 Virus Disease OR COVID 19 Virus Infection OR 2019-nCoV Infection OR Coronavirus Disease-19 OR 2019 Novel Coronavirus Infection OR SARS-CoV-2 Infection OR COVID-19 Pandemic) AND nanotechnology. Results and Conclusions: Nanotechnology can be used in treatment, diagnosis and prevention of COVID-19. Many nanoparticle types can be used in treatment of COVID-19 such as polymers, dendrimers and quantum dots. In addition to these types of nanoparticles, there is Nan bot used for carrying out localized drug delivery and can be controlled by a user. We can also use quantum dots, metal and magnetic nanoparticles for the diagnosis of COVID-19 to increase the efficiency of diagnostic tests. Regarding to COVID-19 prevention, nanoparticles are used for the manufacture of nano-masks and vaccines such as: Oxford/AstraZeneca, Cansino, Moderna and Biotech/Pfizer vaccines. Each technology has advantages and disadvantages. Challenges remain in the domain for its application due to lack of knowledge.