| The application of nanotechnology in medicine has the potential to make a great impact on human health,
ranging from prevention to diagnosis and treatment of disease. The kidneys are the main organ of the human
urinary system, responsible for fltering the blood, and concentrating metabolic waste into urine by means of the
renal glomerulus. The glomerular fltration apparatus presents a barrier against therapeutic agents based on
charge and/or molecular size. Therefore, drug delivery to the kidneys faces signifcant difculties resulting in
treatment failure in several renal disorders. Accordingly, different strategies have recently being explored for
enhancing the delivery of therapeutic agents across the fltration barrier of the glomerulus. Nanosystems with
different physicochemical properties, including size, shape, surface, charge, and possessing biological features
such as high cellular internalization, low cytotoxicity, controllable pharmacokinetics and biodistribution, have
shown promising results for renal therapy. Different types of nanoparticles (NPs) have been used to deliver drugs
to the kidney. In this review, we discuss nanotechnology-based drug delivery approaches for acute kidney injury,
chronic kidney disease, renal fbrosis, renovascular hypertension and kidney cancer |