There are currently no targeted delivery systems to satisfactorily treat bone-related disorders. Many clinical drugs consisting of small organic molecules have a short circulation half-life and do not effectively reach the diseased tissue site. This coupled with repeatedly high dose usage that leads to severe side effects. With the advance in nanotechnology, drugs contained within a nano-delivery device or drugs aggregated into nanoparticles (nano-drugs) have shown promises in targeted drug delivery. The ability to design nanoparticles to target bone has attracted many researchers to develop new systems for treating bone related diseases and even repurposing current drug therapies. In this review, we shall summarise the latest progress in this area and present a perspective for future development in the field. We will focus on calcium-based nanoparticle systems that modulate calcium metabolism and consequently, the bone microenvironment to inhibit disease progression (including cancer). We shall also review the bone affinity drug family, bisphosphonates, as both a nano-drug and nano-delivery system for bone targeted therapy. The ability to target and release the drug in a controlled manner at the disease site represents a promising safe therapy to treat bone diseases in the future.

目前还没有靶向递送系统能够令人满意地治疗骨相关疾病。临床上许多由有机小分子组成的药物循环半衰期短，不能有效到达病变组织部位。再加上反复高剂量使用，会导致严重的副作用。随着纳米技术的进步，纳米递送装置中包含的药物或聚集成纳米粒子（纳米药物）的药物在靶向药物递送方面显示出了前景。设计纳米颗粒以靶向骨的能力吸引了许多研究人员开发新系统来治疗骨相关疾病，甚至重新利用当前的药物疗法。在这篇综述中，我们将总结该领域的最新进展，并对该领域的未来发展提出展望。我们将专注于调节钙代谢的钙基纳米颗粒系统，从而调节骨微环境以抑制疾病进展（包括癌症）。我们还将回顾骨亲和药物家族，双膦酸盐，作为骨靶向治疗的纳米药物和纳米递送系统。在疾病部位以受控方式靶向和释放药物的能力代表了未来治疗骨疾病的一种有前途的安全疗法。