Dendrimers: Breaking the paradigm of current musculoskeletal autoimmune therapies

The advances achieved by cell-based therapies to treat autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and multiple sclerosis (MS), despite promising, are still insufficient for the current demands. RA and MS therapeutic approaches follow world guidelines to use disease modifying drugs and biological agents that, regardless of some good results in clinical outcomes, are well known for several systemic secondary side effects. Dendrimers are custom-made nanoparticles with proved clinical potential, displaying proper size, chemistries, immunomodulatory, and anti-inflammatory properties. This has directed their potential use as drug delivery systems for cancer therapy, for instance. This review manuscript discloses the hidden potential behind dendrimers as alternative viable solutions to treat RA and MS, by focusing in the most recent reports describing the use of dendrimers for suppressing inflammation and possibly preventing disease progression. The advantages of their use as compared with current applied therapies is also discussed herein.