Nano-systems for advanced therapeutics and diagnosis of atherosclerosis

Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are the leading cause of death and morbidity worldwide. Atherosclerotic situations such as acute myocardial infarction(MI) and stroke are still major causes of death worldwide. Present therapeutic approaches based on conventional drug delivery systems are not efficient to control these disorders. With the technological advancement and intervention of nanotechnology, several fascinating areas are explored for the management of these disorders. Targeted drug delivery approaches and diagnostic tools presented by nanotechnology, certainly took the atherosclerotic disease management to next level. Criticality lies in the rationale selection of an appropriately designed nanocarrier for targeting a specific zone of disease. Manuscript provides a descriptive view of disease targets; nanotechnology based therapeutic and diagnostic approaches and different nanocarriers to accomplish this task. It is important to have the understanding of different classes of these nanosystems along with their specific merits and demerits. Mechanisms and approaches for improving the selectivity or targeting potential are also discussed. There is no doubt that nanotechnology is having great impact in this area, but it is equally important to rationalize its scale up aspects for a real world success.