2023/03/01 by Gorm Danscher, Sten Rasmussen
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · Immunology and Microbiology · Materials Science · #Extracellular vesicles in disease #Nanoparticles: synthesis and applications #Phagocytosis and Immune Regulation
paper · pdf · doi:10.1007/s00418-023-02182-9
openalex publication_date 2023/03/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
The newest data on metallic gold have placed the noble metal central in the fight for the safe treatment of autoimmune inflammation. There are two different ways to use gold for the treatment of inflammation: gold microparticles > 20 µm and gold nanoparticles. The injection of gold microparticles (µGold) is a purely local therapy. µGold particles stay put where injected, and gold ions released from them are relatively few and taken up by cells within a sphere of only a few millimeters in diameter from their origin particles. The macrophage-induced release of gold ions may continue for years. Injection of gold nanoparticles (nanoGold), on the other hand, is spread throughout the whole body, and the bio-released gold ions, therefore, affect multitudes of cells all over the body, as when using gold-containing drugs such as Myocrisin. Since macrophages and other phagocytotic cells take up and transport nanoGold and remove it after a short period, repeated treatment is necessary. This review describes the details of the cellular mechanisms that lead to the bio-release of gold ions in µGold and nanoGold.