Recent Advances in Nanotechnology-Based Drug Delivery Approaches for Alzheimer disease

One of the most common forms of neurodegenerative disorders, Alzheimer's disease poses a great threat to patients all over the globe with about 5.7 million cases estimated by the Alzheimer's Association Report of 2018. The disorder is a result of β-amyloid deposition in the brain, deteriorating the cognitive ability and learning processes, commonly in geriatric patients. The review significantly elaborates the superiority of nanotechnological formulations over conventional therapeutic strategies, which exhibit numerous side effects, poor pharmacokinetic profiles and limited efficacy, as compared to the nano-medicinal approach. The review recognizes the need to establish an understanding of the transport mechanisms across the blood-brain barrier, prior to the nanoparticle studies, followed by a discussion on various nano-formulations, evidently supported by the outcome of various studies conducted to investigate the drug delivery portfolio of nanomedicines. Furthermore, the review portrays the challenges to overcome in future studies, like nanoparticle fabrication, drug loading capacity, blood residency time, toxicity regime, monitoring long term effects, in-vivo compatibility and production techniques, in order to enable the development of an optimized form of drug delivery process, which would achieve significant heights in the biomedical applications and bring about a revolution in the field of medicine and science.