Smart Nano Drug Delivery Systems for Brain Targeting

Abstract

Abstract Alzheimer’s disease (AD), the devastating- poorly cured-disease, is characterized by brain dysfunctions; affecting one in ten people over the age of sixty five. Rivastigmine (Riv) is a potent inhibitor of acetyl cholinesterase, commonly used in treatment of AD. Water solubility, non-selectivity and poor bioavailability combined with the brain’s inaccessibility due to the blood brain barrier (BBB), limit the competent effect of medications like (Riv) in the central nervous system (CNS). Drug delivery via nanocarriers is a promising strategy to overcome the BBB and localize treatments in the brain. However, the leakage of water soluble molecules like Riv from the polymeric or liposomal matrix makes their encapsulation very challenging. Hence, hybrid nanoparticles (NPs) provide an opportunity to enhance water soluble drugs entrapment, overcome the low stability of liposomes, and provide a tunable drug release profile. Moreover, the lipid content privileges the solid hydrophobic polymeric core with a good chance to anchor a hydrophilic or amphiphilic component. Decorated lipid shell gives the particles a camouflaging property that increases particles circulation and acts as a permeation enhancer in the brain as well.