Selenium Nanoparticles as a Drug Delivery System: Synthesis Strategies,Characterization,and Biomedical Applications

Selenium nanoparticles (SeNPs) have emerged as an important field in nanomedicine due to the essential biological significance of selenium and the unique physicochemical properties of its nanoscale form. Compared to ionic selenium (such as selenite and selenate), SeNPs are more biocompatible, less Toxic, and more biologically active, making them suitable candidates for therapeutic and diagnostic applications. This review mainly enumerates the main methods used for SeNPs synthesis—physical, chemical, and biological—and critically evaluates their advantages and drawbacks in the context of their possible uses in biomedicine. Characterization and the breakthrough applications of SeNPs include wound healing, anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant, anti-bacterial, cancer treatment, gene delivery, antidiabetic, treatment of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and Rheumatoid arthritis (RA). We highlight a critical comparison of the current evidence supporting biomedical applications of selenium nanoparticles, challenges toward the clinical translation of selenium nanoparticles,and knowledge gaps, limitations of current studies, and future research priorities.