therapeutic-loaded lipid nanostructures and brain diseases

Central Nervous System (CNS) diseases represent the largest and fastest growing area of unmet medical need since an alarming increase in brain disease incidence is going on. Despite major advances in neuroscience, many potential therapeutic agents are denied access to the CNS because of the existence of a physiological low permeable barrier, the Blood-Brain Barrier (BBB). To obtain an improvement of drug CNS performance, sophisticated approaches such as nanoparticulate systems are rapidly developing. In particular, in this chapter, the most recent data demonstrating the potential of lipid nanostructures, such as Solid Lipid Nanoparticles (SLN) and Nanostructured Lipid Carriers (NLC), to successfully transport drugs into the brain for the treatment of CNS diseases including Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases, cancer, mood disorder, AIDS, and bacterial infections, are summarised. Their use as drug delivery systems is associated with many advantages that include an excellent storage stability, a relatively easy production without the use of any organic solvent, the possibility of steam sterilization and lyophilization, and large scale production. Moreover, SLN and NLC are obtained by using physiologically well-tolerated ingredients already approved for pharmaceutical applications in humans and show low toxicity when administered. Because of their small size, these systems may be injected intravenously and avoid the uptake of macrophages of mononuclear phagocyte system (MPS). Moreover, their lipophilic features lead them to CNS by an endocytotic mechanism, overcoming the BBB.