9 Emerging perspectives of nanoparticles to treat neurodegenerative diseases

The application of nanoparticles (NPs) in medicine is an emerging field to advance the therapy of diseases that are difficult to treat. NPs are favored as therapeutic drugs because of their nanoscale size, high surface area, amenability to surface modifications, and better effectiveness. Moreover, they can deeply penetrate tissues like the central nervous system (CNS), which are not easily accessible to other drugs. Neurodegenerative diseases (NDDs) are prevalent in many parts of the world. They are characterized by neuronal death and subsequent blockage in optimum neuronal activities. Most prevalent NDDs are Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and Parkinson’s disease (PD). AD is characterized by the abnormal deposition of amyloid proteins, forming plaques around brain cells. PD is caused by the deposition of Lewy bodies. All these toxic buildups of proteins lead to neuronal death. Several metal NPs, nanocomposites, and quantum dots have been tested using human cell lines and animal models to explore their efficacy against the causative factors of NDDs. These NPs showed a positive response in the majority of such experiments. However, most of these experiments are in infancy. Certain concerns regarding toxicity, half-life, and biocompatibility of drugs also persist that need to be addressed in the near future.