The brain is the most complex and remarkable organ in the human body because
it is responsible for memories, movement, feelings, intelligence, emotions and desires
determining the uniqueness of each person. This organ is protected against various harmful
substances due to the presence of two types of barriers: the blood-brain barrier and the
blood cerebrospinal fluid barrier. The blood-brain barrier is an important limiting factor for
the development of new drugs that can be delivered to the central nervous system. For this
reason different approaches have been developed in order to overcome this barrier.
Polymeric nanoparticles represent one of the most stimulating challenges for the scientific
world, being investigated as drug delivery systems for effective systemic and local delivery
of therapeutics to the central nervous system. This chapter presents in introduction a
classification of the central nervous diseases followed by a presentation of different
strategies that have been developed in order to obtain the polymeric nanoparticles as well
as their applications for treatment and prevention of some central nervous diseases.
Keywords: Polymeric nanoparticles, brain, drug delivery, nervous system,
Alzheimer, Parkinson, AIDS, cerebrovascular disease, dementia, brain tumors,
blood brain barrier, aminoacridines, levodopa, antiretroviral drugs, rivastigmine,
solid-lipid nanoparticles, butylcyanoacrylate nanoparticles, nanotechnology, coreshell
nanoparticles, photodynamic therapy.
