Nanodrug delivery—a noble approach in neurodegenerative disorder and glioblastoma

Neurological disorders affecting the central nervous system (CNS), such as glioblastoma, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and Huntington’s diseases, represent a significant burden on public health globally. Despite their prevalence and severity, early diagnosis remains challenging, and effective treatments are lacking, making these disorders among the most life-threatening. A key obstacle in developing therapies is the blood-brain barrier (BBB), which restricts the passage of drugs into the brain, hampering their efficacy. Moreover, nonspecific drug interactions can trigger harmful neuroimmune responses, exacerbating neuronal damage. Nanotechnology has sparked a revolution in healthcare and in related fields. By utilizing drug-loaded nanocarriers and nanocrystalline active ingredients, numerous challenges have been overcome, including limited bioavailability, multiple drug resistance, poor patient compliance, and adverse drug reactions, particularly associated with chemotherapy. However, recent advancements in nanotechnology offer promising avenues for addressing these challenges. Innovative nanoplatforms and drug delivery strategies have been developed to enhance treatment efficacy while minimizing disruption to brain function. Nanocarriers, such as liposomes, dendrimers, viral capsids, polymeric nanoparticles (PNPs), silicon NPs, and magnetic/metallic NPs, have demonstrated the ability to effectively transport drugs across the BBB, overcoming one of the major hurdles in CNS drug delivery. In addition, drugs encapsulated within these nanocarriers are protected from degradation and can penetrate deeper into targeted brain regions, improving therapeutic outcomes. Here we emphasized novel disease hallmarks in conjunction with emerging nanoparticle platforms, promising approaches for enhancing drug delivery to the CNS, and the potential implications of these advancements for clinical practice.