Nanotechnology to improve the Alzheimer’s disease therapy with natural compounds
Abstract
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a form of dementia with high impact worldwide, accounting with more than 46 million cases. It is estimated that the number of patients will be four times higher in 2050. The initial symptoms of AD are almost imperceptible and typically involve lapses of memory in recent events. However, the available medicines still focus on controlling the symptoms and do not cure the disease. Regarding the advances in the discovery of new treatments for this devastating disease, natural compounds are gaining increasing relevance in the treatment of AD. Nevertheless, they present some limiting characteristics such as the low bioavailability and the low ability to cross the blood-brain barrier (BBB) that hinder the development of effective therapies. To overcome these issues, the delivery of natural products by targeting nanocarriers has aroused a great interest, improving the therapeutic activity of these molecules. In this article, a review of the research progress on drug delivery systems (DDS) to improve the therapeutic activity of natural compounds with neuroprotective effects for AD is presented. Graphical abstract.
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Studies assure the safety of nanoparticles with diameters above 100 nm.
“Studies assure the safety of NPs with diameters above 100 nm [23];”
From Advances in Strategies to Transport Nanoparticles Across the Blood–Brain Barrier for Drug Delivery into the Brain for the Treatment of Alzheimer’s Disease (2026) · cites this paper as [23]
The appropriate size range for drug delivery systems is between 100 and 200 nm.
“As such, the appropriate size range for DDS is between 100 and 200 nm.”
From Advances in Strategies to Transport Nanoparticles Across the Blood–Brain Barrier for Drug Delivery into the Brain for the Treatment of Alzheimer’s Disease (2026) · cites this paper as [23]
Polymeric nanoparticles can have positive or negative charge depending on the polymer, a high drug loading capacity, and can be tailored with non-ionic surfactants for stealth against opsonization and specific ligands to improve brain targeting; PLGA is the most used polymer.
“Beyond the properties entailed to NPs, PNPs can have positive or negative charge, depending on the polymer, a high drug loading capacity, and the ability to be easily tailored with non-ionic surfactants during formulation for stealth purposes against opsonization and specific ligands to improve brain targeting. Among the different polymers, PLGA is the most used [23,39].”
From Advances in Strategies to Transport Nanoparticles Across the Blood–Brain Barrier for Drug Delivery into the Brain for the Treatment of Alzheimer’s Disease (2026) · cites this paper as [23]
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“Among the different polymers, PLGA is the most used [23,39].”
Self-citation
- Authors
- Ramalho, M. J., Andrade, S., Loureiro, J. A., & do Carmo Pereira, M.
- Affiliations
- Universidade do Porto (PT)
- Corresponding author
- Loureiro, Joana Angélica
- Venue
- Drug Delivery and Translational Research
- Published
- 2019-11-26
- Volume
- 10
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 380-402
- ISSN
- 2190-393X (ISSN-L)
- 2190-3948
- OpenAlex
- W2990342877
- Cited by
- 75
- References
- 17
- Citations by year
- 2026: 6 · 2025: 6 · 2024: 8 · 2023: 13 · 2022: 13 · 2021: 14 · 2020: 15
- FWCI
- 1.24
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Drug Delivery and Translational Research (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (SFRH/BD/129312/2017, UID/EQU/00511/2019 - Laboratory for Process Engineering, Environment, Biotechnology and Energy – LEPABE)
- European Regional Development Fund (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-006939, LEPABE-2-ECO-INNOVATION” – NORTE‐01‐0145‐FEDER‐000005)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Alzheimer's disease research and treatments
- Physical Sciences › Materials Science › Biomaterials › Nanoparticle-Based Drug Delivery
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Complementary and alternative medicine › Medicinal Plants and Neuroprotection
- Keywords
- Alzheimer's disease, natural compounds, nanocarriers, drug delivery systems, blood-brain barrier, bioavailability, neuroprotection, nanotechnology, dementia treatment
- MeSH terms
- Alzheimer Disease, Biological Availability, Biological Products, Blood-Brain Barrier, Clinical Trials as Topic, Humans, Drug Delivery Systems, Nanostructures
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