The battle of lipid-based nanocarriers against blood-brain barrier: a critical review

J Drug Target. 2023 Sep;31(8):832-857. doi: 10.1080/1061186X.2023.2247583. Epub 2023 Aug 17.

Abstract

Central nervous system integrity is the state of brain functioning across sensory, cognitive, emotional-social behaviors, and motor domains, allowing a person to realise his full potential. Thus, brain disorders seriously affect patients' quality of life. Efficient drug delivery to treat brain disorders remains a crucial challenge due to numerous brain barriers, particularly the blood-brain barrier (BBB), which greatly impacts the ultimate drug therapeutic efficacy. Lately, nanocarrier technology has made huge progress in overcoming these barriers by improving drug solubility, ameliorating its retention, reducing its toxicity, and targeting the encapsulated agents to different brain tissues. The current review primarily offers an overview of the different components of BBB and the progress, strategies, and contemporary applications of the nanocarriers, specifically lipid-based nanocarriers (LBNs), in treating various brain disorders.

Keywords: Brain; barriers; challenges; nose to brain; targeting effect; transcytosis.

Publication types

  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Blood-Brain Barrier
  • Brain
  • Brain Diseases* / drug therapy
  • Drug Carriers / therapeutic use
  • Drug Delivery Systems
  • Humans
  • Lipids
  • Nanoparticles*
  • Pharmaceutical Preparations
  • Quality of Life

Substances

  • Pharmaceutical Preparations
  • Lipids
  • Drug Carriers