New Technologies for Drug Delivery Across the Blood Brain Barrier

• Published in: Current pharmaceutical design Vol. 10; no. 12; pp. 1355 - 1363
• Main Authors: Kabanov, A V, Batrakova, E V
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United Arab Emirates Bentham Science Publishers Ltd 01.01.2004
• Subjects: Animals; Blood-Brain Barrier - drug effects; Blood-Brain Barrier - metabolism; Drug Delivery Systems - methods; Drug Delivery Systems - trends; Humans; Pharmaceutical Preparations - metabolism; Protein Binding - drug effects; Protein Binding - physiology; Technology, Pharmaceutical - methods; Technology, Pharmaceutical - trends
• ISSN: 1381-6128; 1873-4286
• DOI: 10.2174/1381612043384826

The blood-brain barrier (BBB) efficiently restricts penetration of therapeutic agents to the brain from the periphery. Therefore, discovery of new modalities allowing for effective delivery of drugs and biomacromolecules to the central nervous system (CNS) is of great need and importance for treatment of neurodegenerative disorders. This manuscript focuses on three relatively new strategies. The first strategy involves inhibition of the drug efflux transporters expressed in BBB by Pluronic® block copolymers, which allows for the increased transport of the substrates of these transporters to the brain. The second strategy involves the design of nanoparticles conjugated with specific ligands that can target receptors in the brain microvasculature and carry the drugs to the brain through the receptor mediated transcytosis. The third strategy involves a rtificial hydrophobiz ation of peptides and proteins that facilitates the delivery of the se pe ptides a nd pr oteins ac r oss BBB. This review discusses the current state, advantages and limitations of each of the three technologies and outlines their future prospects.