Solid lipid nanoparticles-based drug delivery for dementia

Dementia is a heterogeneous disease due to its underlying causes and mechanisms. Currently, very few drugs are approved for the treatment. However, many biological molecules, various phytotherapeutics, as well as the repurposed drugs are being intensively researched for the treatment of dementia, but there is no new commercialized drug yet. Physical and molecular brain barriers, for example, tight junctions, efflux transporters, and metabolizing enzymes, restrict the penetration of many molecules into the brain. Among the nanoparticle drug delivery systems, lipid nanoparticles have superior advantages for brain penetration due to their lipophilic properties, their ability to interact with biological membranes. Besides lipid nanoparticles are suitable for scale-up and large-scale production. In this chapter, (i) dementia disease, its pathophysiology, pharmacotherapy, and brain barriers are briefly defined, (ii) formulations, production technologies, and characterization of solid lipid nanoparticles are explained, and (iii) researches of solid lipid nanoparticles as drug delivery systems in dementia and related diseases are reviewed.