Selenium as a pleiotropic agent for medical discovery and drug delivery

Abstract

Selenium as a biologically active element lends much support to health maintenance and disease prevention. It is now presenting pleiotropic effects on therapy and drug delivery. In this study, a profiling on the physiological functions, therapeutic significances, clinical/preclinical performances, and biomedical and drug delivery applications of selenium in different modalities was carried out. Major interests focused on selenium-based nanomedicines in confronting various diseases pertaining to selenium or not, especially in antitumor and antidiabetes. Furthermore, the article exclusively discusses selenium nanoparticles featured by ameliorative functions with emphasis on their applications in medical practice and drug delivery. The state-of-the-art in medical discovery as well as research and development on selenium and nano-selenium is discussed in this review.

Keywords: biomedical applications; diabetes; drug delivery; nanomedicine; oncotherapy; selenium; selenium nanoparticles.

Figure 1

Schematic diagram outlining the principal effects of selenium on the physiological system.

Figure 2

Anticancer mechanisms of selenium and effects of selenium modality on biological actions. Abbreviation: SeNPs, selenium nanoparticles.

Figure 3

Biomedical applications of SeNPs for regulation of physiological functions and treatment of various diseases. Abbreviation: SeNPs, selenium nanoparticles.

Figure 4

Preparative techniques of SeNPs and Se-functionalized nanoparticles that are used for drug delivery. Abbreviation: SeNPs, selenium nanoparticles.

Figure 5

Schematic illustration of INS-SeNPs’ preparation, absorption feature, and hypoglycemic effect delivered via the oral route. Note: Reprinted from Nanomedicine, 13(6), Deng W, Xie Q, Wang H, Ma Z, Wu B, Zhang X, Selenium nanoparticles as versatile carriers for oral delivery of insulin: Insight into the synergic antidiabetic effect and mechanism, 1965–1974, Copyright 2017, with permission from Elsevier. Abbreviations: INS-SeNPs, insulin-loaded SeNPs; sc, subcutaneous; SeNPs, selenium nanoparticles.