Potential applications of mesoporous silica nanoparticles for the treatment of neurological disorders

In the current scenario neurological disorders are an emerging threat to public health. These disorders affect neuronal functions and produce symptoms such as cognitive dysfunction, poor coordination, paralysis, seizures, muscle weakness, and pain. However, traditional therapy is incapable of completely curing the disorders due to the poor blood-brain barrier (BBB) permeability of the administered therapeutics. In recent years, scientists have laid a strong focus on leading-edge novel drug delivery carriers to improve the delivery of drugs to the brain. Novel drug delivery carriers aim to deliver active moieties at the site of action to avoid any undesirable side effects. In this task, mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs) are well capable due to unique structural and physicochemical properties such as high surface area, tunable pore size, surface conjugation, and biocompatibility. The MSNs protect the encapsulated drug against premature metabolism or degradation and allow site-specific controlled drug release and stability. Due to its significant advantages, it has been greatly explored to deliver brain therapeutics in treating neurological disorders in the past few years. Thus, an attempt has been made in this review to briefly discuss the barriers associated with brain drug delivery and crucial formulation features for effective delivery to the brain. Further, the key potential of MSNs as a novel carrier in treating neurological disorders such as Alzheimer's disease, brain tumor, Parkinson's disease, epilepsy, depression, intracerebral hemorrhage, viral encephalitis, nerve agent toxicity, and, multiple sclerosis are highlighted in this compilation.