ABSTRACT:
Neurodegenerative disorder Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a progressive condition characterized by cognitive issues, functionality problems of neurons, and the accumulation of neurofibrillary tangles and amyloid-beta plaques. Despite progress in therapy development, effective treatment of the disease is difficult due to the existence of the blood-brain barrier (BBB), which prevent many therapeutic agents from entering the brain. The emergence of drug delivery systems based on nanotechnology is seen as a possible way of overcoming this problem, enabling the increase of drug stability, bioavailability, targeted delivery, and controlled release in the central nervous system. Researchers investigated a number of nanocarriers, such as polymeric nanoparticles, lipid nanoparticles, dendrimers, liposomes, solid lipid nanoparticles, and nanogels for BBB targeting. Various ligands are used for the surface modification of nanoparticles; for example, transferrin, peptides, antibodies, lactoferrin and lipoproteins, which makes it possible for them to undergo receptor-mediated transcytosis, hence improving the delivery of the drugs to the brain. Novel approaches utilizing multifunctional nanocarrier systems, mimic nanoparticles, intranasal administration as well as systems responsive to specific stimuli provide more opportunities to optimize the therapeutic effect of drugs. Nevertheless, it still remains problematic to address toxicity, safety, biodegradability, manufacturing and efficacy of clinical use. Thus, further studies are necessary to create safe, efficient and clinically relevant nanotechnology solutions for treatment of Alzheimer’s disease.