Title:Nanotherapeutics for Alzheimer's Disease with Preclinical Evaluation and
Clinical Trials: Challenges, Promises and Limitations
Volume: 19
Issue: 1
Author(s): Syed Nasir Abbas Bukhari*
Affiliation:
- Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, College of Pharmacy, Jouf University, Aljouf, Sakaka, 2014, Saudi Arabia
Keywords:
Alzheimer’s Disease, drug delivery systems, brain targeting, amyloid-β, multifunctional nanoparticles, nutraceuticals.
Abstract: Alzheimer’s Disease (AD), a progressive and irreversible neurodegenerative disorder, is
the most common form of dementia worldwide. Currently, there is no disease-modifying AD drug,
and the development of effective treatments is made even harder by the highly selective nature of
the Blood-Brain Barrier (BBB) that allows the passage only of molecules with specific chemicalphysical
properties. In this context, nanomedicine and its Nanoparticles (NPs) offer potential solutions
to the challenge of AD therapy, in particular, the requirements for i) BBB crossing, ii) multitarget
therapy iii) enhancement of pharmacokinetics; and iv) more precise delivery. In addition, the
possibility to optimize NP biophysical and biological (i.e. target-specific ligands) properties allows
for highly tailored delivery platforms. Preclinical studies have demonstrated that nanotherapeutics
provide superior pharmacokinetics and brain uptake than free drugs and, on the other hand, these
are also able to mitigate the side-effects of the symptomatic treatments approved by the FDA.
Among the plethora of potential AD nanodrugs, multitarget nanotherapeutics are considered the
most promising strategy due to their ability to hit simultaneously multiple pathogenic factors,
while nano-nutraceuticals are emerging as interesting tools in the treatment/prevention of AD. This
review provides a comprehensive overview of nanomedicine in AD therapy, focusing on key optimization
of NPs properties, most promising nanotherapeutics in preclinical studies and difficulties
that are limiting the efficient translation from bench to bedside.
