Nanomaterials: an overview of current trends and future prospects in neurological disorder treatment

Abstract

The World Health Organization (WHO) has identified neurological disorders (NDs) as one of the major health concerns worldwide, resulting in high mortality rates. NDs are conditions affecting the central and peripheral nervous systems, including the brain, spinal cord, cranial nerves, peripheral nerves, nerve roots, neuromuscular junctions, and muscles. These neurological diseases include Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, glioma/brain cancer, Huntington’s disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, multiple sclerosis, neuroinfections, ischemic stroke, trauma, hypoxia/anoxia, and depression. Unfortunately, these disorders remain difficult to treat due to the limited ability of conventional drugs to cross the blood–brain barrier (BBB) and achieve significant pharmacological effects in the brain. There is an urgent need to develop methods that can enhance drug efficacy and bypass the BBB. The application of various nanomaterials represents a promising approach to address these neurological disorders. Drugs incorporated with nanomaterials help improve therapeutic outcomes, reduce toxicity, provide better stability, enable targeted delivery, and enhance drug loading capacity. Numerous types and morphologies of inorganic and organic nanomaterials are increasingly employed for treating NDs, including quantum dots, dendrimers, metal nanoparticles, polymeric nanoparticles, liposomes, carbon nanotubes, metal oxide nanoparticles, and micelles. Their exceptional properties such as sensitivity, selectivity, and potential to bypass the BBB make them suitable for both diagnosis and treatment of NDs. In this review article, we briefly summarize the etiology and pathophysiology of various NDs along with current literature highlighting the use of nanomaterials for treating neurological disorders.