Application of nanomedicine for crossing the blood–brain barrier: Theranostic opportunities in multiple sclerosis

Abstract

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune neurodegenerative disease characterized with immunopathobiological events, including lymphocytic infiltration into the central nervous system (CNS), microglia activation, demyelination and axonal degeneration. Although several neuroprotective drugs have been designed for the treatment of MS, complete remission is yet matter of debate. Therefore, development of novel therapeutic approaches for MS is of a high priority in immunological research. Nanomedicine is a recently developed novel medical field, which is applicable in both diagnosis and treatment of several cancers and autoimmune diseases. Although there is a marked progress in neuroimaging through using nanoparticles, little is known regarding the therapeutic potential of nanomedicine in neurological disorders, particularly MS. Moreover, the majority of data is limited to the MS related animal models. In this review, we will discuss about the brain targeting potential of different nanoparticles as well as the role of nanomedicine in the diagnosis and treatment of MS and its animal model, experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis. ARTICLE HISTORY

Nanopharmaceuticals: A Boon to the Brain-Targeted Drug Delivery

“…Dendrimers are the excellent drug carriers; their surface functionalization with folic acid, peptides, aptamers, amino acids, biotin, antibodies facilitated more site-specific targeting. To penetrate CNS barriers, dendrimers were conjugated with transferrin, lactoferrin, D-glucosamine, and leptin for more effective brain drug delivery [30]. Some other nanoparticulate systems like nanoemulsion and nanogel can be functionalized with targeting moieties (transferrin, insulin, peptides) for CNS drug delivery.…”

“…Some other nanoparticulate systems like nanoemulsion and nanogel can be functionalized with targeting moieties (transferrin, insulin, peptides) for CNS drug delivery. Nanogels made up of PEG-polyethylenimine (PEI) and N-vinylpyrrolidone/ isopropyl acrylamide have been tested to ensure CNS drug delivery potential [30].…”

Advances in Molecular Imaging of Locally Delivered Targeted Therapeutics for Central Nervous System Tumors

“…Given these problems, a new class of molecules was developed that could accurately predict a volume of distribution and clearance rate: theranostics [84,85]. A theranostic agent is a molecule with both therapeutic and imaging properties, based on the assumption that the best imaging proxy for a therapeutic agent is the agent itself (or its closest representation) [86,87].…”

“…These allow for the concomitant transport of more than one drug of choice along with an imaging agent. Different types of nanocarriers exist, including liposomes, nanospheres, nanofibers, carbon microtubules, and others [66,84,98,99,100]. Each is characterized by specific properties that ultimately determine their therapeutic potential.…”

Development and characterization of morin hydrate loaded microemulsion for the management of Alzheimer’s disease

“…Intranasal delivery of morin hydrate loaded microemulsion is an approach to bypass the blood-brain barrier (BBB) and can directly deliver the drug into the brain by using nasal olfactory neurons (Ghalamfarsa et al 2016). Most studies have utilized a simple morin aqueous solution via parenteral route to obtain the targeted pharmacological effect but have obvious disadvantages, such as low patient compliance, safety considerations, and high medication costs (Zhang et al 2011).…”