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World J Gastroenterol. Jun 21, 2014; 20(23): 7242-7251
Published online Jun 21, 2014. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v20.i23.7242
Published online Jun 21, 2014. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v20.i23.7242
Nanotechnology applications for the therapy of liver fibrosis
Lydia Giannitrapani, Maurizio Soresi, Giuseppe Montalto, Unit of Internal Medicine, Biomedical Department of Internal Medicine and Specialties DiBiMIS, University of Palermo, 90127 Palermo, Italy
Maria Luisa Bondì, Institute for Nanostructured Materials Studies, National Research Council (CNR), 90146 Palermo, Italy
Giuseppe Montalto, Melchiorre Cervello, Institute of Biomedicine and Molecular Immunology “A. Monroy”, National Research Council (CNR), 90146 Palermo, Italy
Author contributions: Giannitrapani L and Cervello M collected and analyzed literature data; Soresi M contributed analytics tools; Bondì ML and Montalto G supervised the paper; Giannitrapani L and Cervello M wrote the paper.
Supported by Grants from the Italian Ministero dell’Istruzione, dell’Università e della Ricerca (Ministry for Education, Universities and Research), MIUR FIRB-MERIT n. RBNE08YYBM to Cervello M, Montalto G and Bondì ML
Correspondence to: Lydia Giannitrapani, MD, PhD, Unit of Internal Medicine, Biomedical Department of Internal Medicine and Specialties DiBiMIS, University of Palermo, Via del Vespro 141, 90127 Palermo, Italy. lydiagiannitp@gmail.com
Telephone: +39-91-6552916 Fax: +39-91-6552977
Received: November 12, 2013
Revised: January 16, 2014
Accepted: March 6, 2014
Published online: June 21, 2014
Processing time: 220 Days and 16.5 Hours
Revised: January 16, 2014
Accepted: March 6, 2014
Published online: June 21, 2014
Processing time: 220 Days and 16.5 Hours
Core Tip
Core tip: New drugs or new drug delivery strategies to cure liver fibrosis are needed to find effective therapeutic options for this pathologic condition. Therapies based on nanotechnologies have emerged as an innovative and promising alternative to conventional therapies. This work aims to review the most recent literature about the use of nanotechnology approaches to reduce liver fibrosis.