Nanoparticles: a new frontier in neurodegenerative disease therapy

Evidence from laboratory and animal studies provides groundwork for understanding mechanisms and potential before human studies continue.

• Level A · Stronger Clinical Evidence
• Level B · Emerging clinical evidence with positive signals
• Level C · Early human research exploring benefits
• Level D · Scientific groundwork from lab and animal studies
• Emerging · Emerging topic under active research

Abstract (original English)

Nanoparticle-based drug delivery systems, such as liposomes, polymeric micelles, dendrimers, and other nanosized carriers, have emerged as promising strategies to improve the targeted delivery of therapeutic agents to the brain. These nanoparticles can be engineered to encapsulate drugs, facilitating their passage across the BBB, enabling localized treatment of the regions affected by neurodegeneration. Nanoparticles are characterized by their small size, large surface area, and possibility of functionalization, which allows them to be useful in many areas, including improved bioavailability, decreased systemic side effects, and improved therapeutic efficacy. Additionally, nanoparticles may also be surface-modified with appropriate ligands like antibodies, peptides, or small molecules, which exhibit specific interactions with receptors or cellular targets associated with the disease process. Such targeting has the potential to make targeted drug delivery possible, allowing therapeutic factors that can damage the healthy part of the brain to be delivered only to the diseased region. Furthermore, probable treatments for neurodegenerative diseases are also reviewed with the potential for complexation of different therapeutic agents, including small molecules, proteins, RNA, lipid nanoparticles and gene therapies with nanoparticle-based systems.

Evidence level

Evidence from laboratory and animal studies provides groundwork for understanding mechanisms and potential before human studies continue.

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