International Journal of Nanomedicine (Nov 2021)

Potential of Nanocarrier-Based Drug Delivery Systems for Brain Targeting: A Current Review of Literature

  • Alotaibi BS,
  • Buabeid M,
  • Ibrahim NA,
  • Kharaba ZJ,
  • Ijaz M,
  • Noreen S,
  • Murtaza G

Journal volume & issue
Vol. Volume 16
pp. 7517 – 7533

Abstract

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Badriyah Shadid Alotaibi,1 Manal Buabeid,2,3 Nihal Abdalla Ibrahim,2,3 Zelal Jaber Kharaba,4 Munazza Ijaz,5 Sobia Noreen,6 Ghulam Murtaza7 1Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy, Princess Nourah Bint Abdulrahman University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; 2Medical and Bio-allied Health Sciences Research Centre, Ajman University, Ajman, United Arab Emirates; 3Department of Clinical Sciences, Ajman University, Ajman, 346, United Arab Emirates; 4Department of Clinical Sciences, College of Pharmacy, Al-Ain University of Science and Technology, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates; 5Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, the University of Lahore, Lahore, Pakistan; 6Department of Pharmaceutics, Faculty of Pharmacy, The Islamia University of Bahawalpur, Bahawalpur, Pakistan; 7Department of Pharmacy, COMSATS University Islamabad, Lahore Campus, Lahore, 54000, PakistanCorrespondence: Ghulam Murtaza Tel +92 3215129950Fax +92 992-383441Email [email protected]: The advent of nanotechnologies such as nanocarriers and nanotherapeutics has changed the treatment strategy and developed a more efficacious novel drug delivery system. Various drug delivery systems are focused on drug-targeting of brain cells. However, the manifestation of the brain barrier is the main hurdle for the effective delivery of chemotherapeutics, ultimately causing treatment failure of various drugs. To solve this problem, various nanocarrier-based drug delivery system has been developed for brain targeting. This review outlines nanocarrier-based composites for different brain diseases and highlights nanocarriers for drug targeting towards brain cells. It also summarizes the latest developments in nanocarrier-based delivery systems containing liposomal systems, dendrimers, polymeric micelles, polymeric nanocarriers, quantum dots (QDs), and gold nanoparticles. Besides, the optimal properties of nanocarriers and therapeutic implications for brain targeting have been extensively studied. Finally, the potential applications and research opportunities for nanocarriers in brain targeting are discussed.Keywords: brain targeting, nanocarriers, blood–brain barrier, nanotherapeutics, in-vivo

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