在过去几十年中，各种疾病（如癌症）的不断增加，导致了全球高死亡率。另一方面，传统疗法（如化疗和放疗）在诊断和治疗疾病方面并没有显示出足够的效果。因此，应考虑采用潜在的新方法为抑制疾病铺平道路。在新方法中，生物材料，例如壳聚糖纳米颗粒（CS NPs，N-乙酰葡萄糖胺和D-葡萄糖胺）已被美国食品药品监督管理局（FDA）批准用于一些高效的药物应用。这些纳米颗粒由于其物理化学特性，可以与不同分子进行修饰，生物相容性，血清稳定性，免疫反应较少，适当的药动学和药效学等方面，已经引起了研究人员和临床医生的深入关注。更重要的是，壳聚糖多糖在合成、制备和输送金属纳米颗粒（如金、银和磁性纳米颗粒）以及壳聚糖与这些金属纳米颗粒的组合中的影响可以进一步促进疾病的诊断和治疗。金属纳米颗粒具有将NIR光子能量转化为热能和抗微生物能力等特点，与壳聚糖纳米颗粒结合后，可能成为疾病诊断和治疗的潜在候选药物。这些组合纳米颗粒将来可能成为高效的药物。版权所有 © 2023. Elsevier B.V.出版。

During the last decades, the ever-increasing incidence of various diseases, like cancer, has led to a high rate of death worldwide. On the other hand, conventional modalities (such as chemotherapy and radiotherapy) have not indicated enough efficiency in the diagnosis and treatment of diseases. Thus, potential novel approaches should be taken into consideration to pave the way for the suppression of diseases. Among novel approaches, biomaterials, like chitosan nanoparticles (CS NPs, N-acetyl-glucosamine and D-glucosamine), have been approved by the FDA for some efficient pharmaceutical applications. These NPs owing to their physicochemical properties, modification with different molecules, biocompatibility, serum stability, less immune response, suitable pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics, etc. have received deep attention among researchers and clinicians. More importantly, the impact of CS polysaccharide in the synthesis, preparation, and delivery of metallic NPs (like gold, silver, and magnetic NPs), and combination of CS with these metallic NPs can further facilitate the diagnosis and treatment of diseases. Metallic NPs possess some features, like converting NIR photon energy into thermal energy and anti-microorganism capability, and can be a potential candidate for the diagnosis and treatment of diseases in combination with CS NPs. These combined NPs would be efficient pharmaceuticals in the future.Copyright © 2023. Published by Elsevier B.V.