Current Strategies to Enhance Delivery of Drugs across the Blood-Brain Barrier

The blood-brain barrier (BBB) has shown to be a significant obstacle to brain medication delivery. The BBB in a healthy brain is a diffusion barrier that prevents most substances from passing from the blood to the brain; only tiny molecules can pass across the BBB. The BBB is disturbed in specific pathological illnesses such as stroke, diabetes, seizures, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, and Alzheimer's disease. The goal of this study is to offer a general overview of current brain medication delivery techniques and associated topics from the last five years. It is anticipated that this review will stimulate readers to look into new ways to deliver medications to the brain. Following an introduction of the construction and function of the BBB in both healthy and pathological conditions, this review revisits certain contested questions, such as whether nanoparticles may cross the BBB on their own and if medications are selectively delivered to the brain by deliberately targeted nanoparticles. Current non-nanoparticle options are also discussed, including drug delivery via the permeable BBB under pathological circumstances and the use of non-invasive approaches to improve brain medication absorption.

Automated summary

The blood-brain barrier is a significant obstacle to brain medication delivery, but it can be disturbed in certain pathological conditions. This study provides an overview of current brain medication delivery techniques and stimulates readers to explore new ways of delivering medications to the brain. It discusses the construction and function of the blood-brain barrier, as well as controversial questions about nanoparticle and non-nanoparticle options for drug delivery.