Toxicity of polyamidoamine dendrimers in vivo

The development of effective drug delivery systems is a crusial task for modern medicine. The main problem is the occurrence of non-specific toxicity leading to undesirable side effects in vivo.This article aims at reviewing resent research on the toxicity of polyamidoamine (PAMAM) dendrimers in vivo. The research results show that the toxicity of PAMAM dendrimers and modified nanoparticles depends both on the characteristics of the particles themselves (size, generation and surface charge) and on the administration parameters. It has been shown that cationic PAMAM dendrimers of small and medium generations are non-toxic in vivo when administered intravenously and intraperitoneally to mice at doses up to 10 mg/kg. In turn, anionic, neutral, and modified PAMAM dendrimers do not exhibit toxicity, regardless of the route of administration. Thus, by varying methods of administration, the dose, and modifying the surface of dendrimers, the decrease in toxicity can be achieved, promising a path towards their successfully aplication as drug carriers.