Current Strategies to Enhance Delivery of Drugs across the Blood–Brain Barrier
Raluca Ioana Teleanu,
Manuela Daniela Preda,
Adelina-Gabriela Niculescu,
Oana Vladâcenco,
Crina Ioana Radu,
Alexandru Mihai Grumezescu,
Daniel Mihai Teleanu
Affiliations
Raluca Ioana Teleanu
Department of Pediatric Neurology, “Dr. Victor Gomoiu” Children’s Hospital, 022102 Bucharest, Romania
Manuela Daniela Preda
Department of Science and Engineering of Oxide Materials and Nanomaterials, Faculty of Applied Chemistry and Materials Science, Politehnica University of Bucharest, 011061 Bucharest, Romania
Adelina-Gabriela Niculescu
Department of Science and Engineering of Oxide Materials and Nanomaterials, Faculty of Applied Chemistry and Materials Science, Politehnica University of Bucharest, 011061 Bucharest, Romania
Oana Vladâcenco
Department of Pediatric Neurology, “Dr. Victor Gomoiu” Children’s Hospital, 022102 Bucharest, Romania
Crina Ioana Radu
Department of Neurosurgery (I), Bucharest University Emergency Hospital, 050098 Bucharest, Romania
Alexandru Mihai Grumezescu
Department of Science and Engineering of Oxide Materials and Nanomaterials, Faculty of Applied Chemistry and Materials Science, Politehnica University of Bucharest, 011061 Bucharest, Romania
Daniel Mihai Teleanu
“Carol Davila” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 020021 Bucharest, Romania
The blood–brain barrier (BBB) has shown to be a significant obstacle to brain medication delivery. The BBB in a healthy brain is a diffusion barrier that prevents most substances from passing from the blood to the brain; only tiny molecules can pass across the BBB. The BBB is disturbed in specific pathological illnesses such as stroke, diabetes, seizures, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, and Alzheimer’s disease. The goal of this study is to offer a general overview of current brain medication delivery techniques and associated topics from the last five years. It is anticipated that this review will stimulate readers to look into new ways to deliver medications to the brain. Following an introduction of the construction and function of the BBB in both healthy and pathological conditions, this review revisits certain contested questions, such as whether nanoparticles may cross the BBB on their own and if medications are selectively delivered to the brain by deliberately targeted nanoparticles. Current non-nanoparticle options are also discussed, including drug delivery via the permeable BBB under pathological circumstances and the use of non-invasive approaches to improve brain medication absorption.
