Harnessing veterinary nanomedicine: A One Health perspective

Nanomedicine exploits the unique physicochemical properties of nanomaterials to enable advanced diagnostic and therapeutic strategies. In veterinary medicine, nanotechnology is rapidly emerging as a transformative platform across companion animals, livestock, and exotic species, with direct implications for animal welfare, productivity, and the One Health framework. Although several reviews have addressed specific aspects of nanotechnology in animal health, the field is expanding rapidly, generating new technological developments and translational insights that remain dispersed across disciplines. Consequently, an updated integrative synthesis is needed to contextualize recent advances and define the evolving role of nanomedicine in veterinary and comparative biomedical research. Nanomedicines enhance drug delivery, vaccine efficacy, diagnostics, and nutrition by improving the bioavailability, targeting capability, and safety profiles of active compounds, while also offering innovative solutions to challenges such as antimicrobial resistance and neoplastic diseases. Importantly, veterinary nanomedicine occupies a dual role: it delivers tangible clinical benefits to animals and serves as a critical translational bridge, generating preclinical insights relevant to human health. This review provides an updated overview of the current state-of-the-art in veterinary nanomedicine, highlighting applications in diagnostics, drug and gene delivery, nanovaccines, and nutrition, alongside emerging smart nano-enabled technologies. Particular emphasis is placed on integrating advances reported across different sectors, underlining opportunities and limitations. We also critically examine safety, regulatory, and ethical considerations, analyzing species-specific toxicology, environmental fate, food-chain safety, and evolving regulatory outlines. Future perspectives are discussed, emphasizing the integration of nanotechnology with One Health–driven translational research to support the responsible and impactful advancement of veterinary nanomedicine.