Interactions of carbon nanotubes and fullerenes with the immune system of the skin and the possible implications related to cutaneous nanotoxicity

The understanding of the interaction of carbon nanotubes and fullerenes with the constituents of the skin, especially the skin immune unit, is relevant to the determination of toxicological endpoints. A systematic review was done focused on such aspects. Considerable part of the found references concentrated in cytotoxicity and skin permeation. On a smaller scale, there are articles on immunomodulation and activation of immune cells and other elements. Few of the found studies deal specifically with cutaneous immune response, limiting the related knowledge. The findings suggest that nanomaterials studied may be involved in skin problems such irritant contact dermatitis, anaphylactoid reactions, urticaria, angioedema, and raised the need for performing additional studies to confirm the findings. The standardization of the description and testing of nanomaterials characteristics used in experiments can facilitate comparison of results.