Lipid nanocarriers encapsulating herbal drugs for brain diseases therapy

Abstract

The blood-brain barrier (BBB) is an essential component in safeguarding the brain and preserving its equilibrium. The BBB represents a challenge for various types of drug delivery systems, particularly in the context of treating numerous neuropathological disorders wherein the therapeutic agents cannot cross the BBB. Nonetheless, existing neurotherapeutics have drawbacks such as toxicity and lack of specificity. Advances in nano drug delivery systems, particularly lipid-based nanocarriers, aim to deliver active therapeutics across the BBB to improve neurological conditions such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and brain tumors, offering a novel treatment strategy with enhanced drug delivery, increased target specificity, enhanced efficacy, and more significantly, minimized toxicity in a biomimetic manner. In this context, this review sheds light on the use of lipid nanocarriers loaded with drugs of natural origin such as ferulic acid, resveratrol, curcumin, and rosmarinic acid for their brain delivery with better bioavailability and exceptional improvement in their therapeutic potential to treat major neurological disorders in future clinics.