Skip to main content

REVIEW article

Front. Pharmacol.
Sec. Gastrointestinal and Hepatic Pharmacology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fphar.2025.1528752

Recent advances in polymeric nanoparticles for the treatment of hepatic diseases

Provisionally accepted
Feng Gao Feng Gao Xuefei Feng Xuefei Feng Xinyu Li Xinyu Li *
  • China-Japan Union Hospital, Jilin University, Changchun, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    The liver performs crucial roles in energy metabolism, detoxification, and immune regulation. Hepatic diseases, including hepatitis, liver fibrosis, and liver cancer, have posed a significant threat to global health, emphasizing the critical need for the development of novel and effective treatment approaches. Nanotechnology, an emerging technology, has been extensively researched in medicine. Among the many types of nanomaterials, polymeric nanoparticles (NPs) are widely used in drug delivery systems. Compared to traditional therapies, they offer significant advantages in the treatment of liver disease by improving outcomes and reducing side effects. This review introduced the development of liver disease and discussed the application of natural polymers and synthetic polymers in their management. Furthermore, this paper reviewed the application of polymeric nanoparticles -mainly chitosan (CS), hyaluronic acid (HA), polyethylene glycol (PEG) and poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA)-in liver disease treatment, focusing on their use in various delivery systems for pure bioactive compounds of natural origin, drugs, nucleic acids, peptides, and others. Finally, the challenges and future perspectives of the NPs were discussed to provide guidance for further research directions, with the aim of promoting the clinical application of nanotherapeutics in treating hepatic diseases.

    Keywords: Hepatic diseases, liver cancer, nanomaterials, polymeric nanoparticles, Drug delivery

    Received: 15 Nov 2024; Accepted: 08 Jan 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 Gao, Feng and Li. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Xinyu Li, China-Japan Union Hospital, Jilin University, Changchun, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.