Stroke is a disease with high disability and high mortality in the world. Due to the existence of the blood-brain barrier (BBB), complex brain structure, and numerous neural signal pathways, the treatment methods are limited, so new drugs and new treatments need to be developed urgently. Thankfully, the advent of nanotechnology offered a new opportunity for biomedical development because of the unique properties of nanoparticles that give them the ability to traverse the BBB and accumulate in relevant regions of the brain. More importantly, nanoparticles could be modified on the surface to meet a variety of specific properties that people need. Some could be used for effective drug delivery, including tissue plasminogen activator (tPA), neuroprotective agents, genes, and cytokines; some nanoparticles were used as contrast agents and biosensors in medical imaging for further diagnosis of stroke; some were used to track target cells for prognosis of stroke; and some were used to detect pathological markers of stroke that appear at different stages. This Review looks at the application and research progress of nanoparticles in the diagnosis and treatment of stroke, hoping to bring some help to researchers.
Keywords: Blood-Brain-Barrier; Drug delivery; Nanoparticles; Safety; Stroke; Toxicity; Track cells.