Therapeutic and Diagnostic Implications of Carbon Dot: An Advancement in the Avenue towards Cancer, Diabetes and Neurodegenerative Disorders.

Introduction: Carbon dots (CDs), by virtue of their electrical and optical properties, emit intense light and fluorescence. They have attributes like photostability, high quantum yield (QY), high emission, and scalability. In the recent past, theranostic-CDs have been widely used in sensing, imaging, and medication administration. Furthermore, CDs may provide significant promise to detect and ability to cross blood-brain barrier (BBB) along with a drug to treat numerous neurodegenerative disorders (ND), such as Parkinson's disease (PD), Alzheimer's disease (AD), and multiple sclerosis.

Method: This review aims at exploring the immense utility of CDs in the arena of theranostics. The immense utility of CDs was investigated through a systematic exploration of previously published data in the relevant field. The application of CDs is well extended to treat life-threatening disorders, like diabetes and cancer. In order to keep harmful substances out of the brain, the blood- -brain barrier (BBB) forms a defensive barrier.

Results: Water and gases being simple molecules can traverse the BBB without getting filtered out, but several large molecules suffer to reach the site of action owing to their poor solubility. CDs have recently been employed for delivering drugs to the brain and to assess the central nervous system. An in-depth study of relevant literature indicates that CDs are the next-generation carrier with an innate potential to subside the drawbacks of conventional nanoparticles.

Conclusion: This review illustrates several biomedical applications of CDs, primarily focusing on neurological illnesses, diabetes, and cancers. It also confers the usefulness of CDs in diagnostic imaging.