Nanoparticle-aided Herbal Drugs: Therapeutic Implications on Cholinergic Dysfunction with Relevance to Alzheimer's Disease

Being a notable form of neurodegenerative disorder, Alzheimer's disease (AD) accounts for the cognitive decline of a wide range of the population globally. Any form of dysfunction to the cholinergic system of the brain marks the onset of cognitive decline and paves the way for progressive neurodegeneration in AD. Alteration in acetylcholinesterase activity, accumulation of beta-amyloid protein, mitochondrial dysfunction, oxidative stress, and neuroinflammation are some of the marked gateways to the pathogenesis of AD. Although nature harbors a wide array of herbal cures to various gateways of cholinergic dysfunction, there exist certain restrictions to efficient delivery and therapeutic action of the phytocompounds in-vivo. Despite bearing certain reversible limitations, the application of nanoscience has successfully cleared off several barriers from the drug designing and delivery of herbal extracts and enriched the therapeutic potentiality of the medicinal plants that have been practiced extensively since time immemorial. Several forms of nanoparticles (NP) have been designed to date viz., polymeric NP, lipid-based NP, metallic NP, each having their characteristic advantage as drug carriers. In addition to advantages like high drug loading capacity, target-specific drug release, high bioavailability, etc., the ability to penetrate the Blood- Brain Barrier (BBB) non-invasively makes the nanocarriers most suitable for delivering herbal drugs targeting neurodegenerative disorders. The present chapter, therefore, discusses the therapeutic qualities of several herbal compounds targeting cholinergic dysfunction and the remarkable milestones set by nanotechnology in amplifying the potentiality of the herbal drugs in the treatment of AD.

Keywords: Blood-brain barrier, Curcumin, Cuscuta chinensis, Dendrimer, GFAP, Herbal extract, Liposome, Micelle, Mitochondrial dysfunction, Nanocarrier, Neuroinflammation, Oxidative stress, Pathophysiology, Piperine, Polymeric, Quercetin, Resveratrol, Therapeutic.