Chapter 8: Nanoparticles and the Blood Coagulation System

Nanoparticles are increasingly being used in industry, biology, and medicine, but the benefits of using nanotechnology for industrial and biomedical applications are tempered by concerns about the safety of these new materials. Nanoparticles can be immunotoxic, however, no novel (i.e., specific to nano) immunotoxicity has been described. Therefore, it is our working assumption that the standard panel of immunotoxicity methods and parameters used to understand the safety of drugs and medical devices is also applicable to engineered nanomaterials, but that these methods may require modification and optimization to account for differences in nanoparticle distribution, route of entry, and interference. While nanoparticle interaction with various constituents of the immune system has been reviewed before, little attention was given to nanoparticle effects on the blood coagulation system. Herein, we review recent advances in our understanding of nanoparticle interactions with plasma coagulation factors, platelets, endothelial cells and leukocytes. We will discuss studies demonstrating how nanoparticle physicochemical properties (e.g., size, charge, hydrophobicity) can be engineered to achieve desirable effects on the coagulation system and to avoid undesirable toxicities.