Drug Delivery Strategies in Multiple Sclerosis, Huntington’s Disease and Other Neurodegenerative Diseases

In healthy individuals, the blood–brain barrier (BBB) protects the brain by obstructing tiny harmful substances in the blood only by hindering the permeation across BBB. The BBB gets interrupted in most neurological diseases such as Huntington’s disease, stroke, seizures, multiple sclerosis and Parkinson’s disease. However, this disruption is not at all beneficial as the drug delivery across BBB happen only when the blood capillaries are healthy in their functionality, vascularization is perfect and blood circulation is appropriate. One of the major challenges in treatment of neurodegenerative disorder is the inability of drug molecules to cross BBB to enter the brain. This chapter will give a general idea of recent approaches explored for targeted delivery of therapeutic agent to brain diseases. A brief overview regarding the BBB’s structural, physical and enzymatic properties and functioning in normal and diseased situations are given. Overall, this chapter will collectively provide a summary of the recent advancements in bypassing the BBB via different approaches. We have also presented the critical overview of main challenges including challenges faced in designing of drug delivery strategies to treat neurological disorders and opportunities that are faced frequently during the treatment of neurological disorders so that new ways can be explored for achieving the radical cure of neurodegenerative diseases.