Current Pharmaceutical Biotechnology - Volume 13, Issue 12, 2012

Due to the presence of the blood-brain barrier, there is limited drug access into the brain. In order to overcome this challenge, various strategies have been developed to enhance penetration of drugs into the brain. Of these, the most frequently used are pharmacological technologies or comparable methods being developed for brain-targeting drug delivery using receptor- or adsorptive- or transporter-mediated transcyto Read More

The blood-brain barrier (BBB) is the vessel wall made up of specialized capillary endothelial cells, surrounded by astroglial endfeet and neurons, that govern the exchange of compounds between blood and brain. It protects the brain from harmful compounds potentially present in blood, while it is specifically designed to supply the brain with the required nutrients and to get rid of waste products. The BBB is structurally different Read More

Drug delivery to the brain remains challenging due to the presence of the blood-brain barrier. In this review, 10 key development criteria are presented that are important for successful drug development to treat CNS diseases by targeted drug delivery systems. Although several routes of delivery are being investigated, such as intranasal delivery, direct injections into the brain or CSF, and transient opening of the blood-bra Read More

The blood-brain barrier (BBB), which impedes drug penetration into the central nervous system, is composed of specific structures formed by brain capillary endothelial cells and sheathed by astrocytic end-feet through basement membrane. Many brain drug delivery strategies have focused on adsorptive-mediated transcytosis (AMT), which is triggered by electrostatic interaction between cationic molecules and anionic microdo Read More

The endothelial cells of the brain form the blood-brain barrier (BBB) that denotes a major restraint for drug entry to the brain. Traditional attempts to bypass the BBB have been by formulation of drugs with lipophilicity or low molecular weight designed to enable transport via solute nutrient transporters. The identification of many new targets in the brain cells form new ways of thinking drug design as modern therapeutics co Read More

The treatment of brain disorders is particularly challenging due to the presence of a variety of formidable obstacles to deliver drugs selectively and effectively to the brain. Blood-brain-barrier (BBB) constitutes the major obstacle to the uptake of drugs into the brain following systemic administration. Intranasal delivery offers a non-invasive and convenient method to bypass the BBB and delivery of therapeutics directly t Read More

Treatment of malignant gliomas remains a challenge irrespective of the recent improvements. Chemotherapeutic agents for malignant gliomas have been particularly inefficient for the existence of blood-tumor barrier (BTB), which hampers the accumulation and uptake in tumor. Moreover, even though blood-brain barrier (BBB) is compromised to some extent under the situation of malignant gliomas, it remains to be the obs Read More

Neurodegenerative disorders (NDs) are rapidly increasing as population ages. However, successful treatments for NDs have so far been limited and drug delivery to the brain remains one of the major challenges to overcome. There has recently been growing interest in the development of drug delivery systems (DDS) for local or systemic brain administration. DDS are able to improve the pharmacological and therapeutic propert Read More

Despite advances in surgery and drug discovery, brain tumors remain fatal diseases. Early detection and diagnosis of brain tumors is of great importance for improving treatment outcomes. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a prominent, clinically-relevant imaging modality because of its excellent tissue contrast resolution, direct multiplanar imaging and increased sensitivity to edema. MRI utility is further enhanced with Read More

The blood-brain barrier (BBB) represents a significant obstacle for drug delivery to the brain. Many therapeutics with potential for treating neurological conditions prove incompatible with intravenous delivery simply because of this barrier. Rather than modifying drugs to penetrate the BBB directly, it has proven more efficacious to either physically bypass the barrier or to use specialized delivery vehicles that circumvent Read More

Malignant tumors remain virtually untreatable and inevitably lethal despite extensive surgical excision and adjuvant radio- and chemotherapy. Therefore, the development of more effective tumor-selective therapies is necessary. Stem/progenitorcells that self-renew, differentiate and display inherent tumor-tropic properties can be exploited for targeted delivery of therapeutic genes to invasive and metastatic tumors. In this r Read More