Table 2 Types of NPs and/or NMs for Alzheimer’s disease treatment
Type of NPs and/or NMs | Size | Drugs | Advantage and/or application | Key references |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Polymeric NPs | 1–1000 nm | Neuroprotective peptide, rivastigmine, curcumin, estradiol, S14G-humanin, anti Aβ antibody, fibroblast growth factor, Aβ-targeting peptide, iron chelator, selegiline, Aβ 1–15, ROCKII-siRNA, clioquinol | Drug-loaded NPs exhibited specificity for Aβ plaques both in vitro and in vivo; capable of aiding in the early diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease | Hadavi and Poot [32] Sahni et al. [103] Gregori et al. [104] Wen et al. [105] |
Liposomes, CPP-modified liposomes, flexible liposomes | 200–500 μm | Curcumin, phosphatidic acid, cardiolipin, XO4, glycofused benzopyrane, anti Aβ antibody, ZnAc, EDTA, His, epigallocatechin-3-gallate, quercetin, rivastigmine HCl, galantamine | Beneficial for stabilizing therapeutic compounds, overcoming obstacles to cellular and tissue uptake, and improving bio-distribution of compounds to target sites in vivo. Present as an attractive delivery system due to their flexible physicochemical and biophysical properties, which allow easy manipulation to address different delivery considerations | Hadavi and Poot [32] Gregori et al. [104] Wen et al. [105] Sercombe et al. [106] |
Solid lipid NPs and lipid-coated microbubble/NP-derived (LCM/ND) | 50–1000 nm | Piperine, galantamine, lipoyl-memantine, rivastigmine HCl | Stabilizing drugs that suffer from physicochemical or biological instability; improving the bioavailability of drugs that cross the BBB; increasing permeating of drugs through the BBB | Wen et al. [105] Qu et al. [107] D’Arrigo [108] |
Chitosan NPs | 15–200 nm | Tacrine, Aβ fragment, | Enhanced concentration of drug in the brain, more stable, permeable, and bioactive | Sahni et al. [103] Gregori et al. [104] Wen et al. [105] Ahmed et al. [109] |
Magnetite NPs | 1 nm to 5 μm | Tacrine | Useful as selective biomarkers for detecting the location and the removal of other amyloid plaques derived from different amyloidogenic proteins | Sahni et al. [103] Gregori et al. [104] Busquets et al. [110] Sara Teller et al. [111] Chen et al. [112] |
Albumin NPs | 40–500 nm | Apo-E binding, tacrine | Enhanced brain uptake of NPs by cerebral endothelium, by an endocytic mechanism, followed by transcytosis into the brain parenchyma | Sahni et al. [103] Gregori et al. [104] Saraiva et al. [113] Karimi et al. [114] |
Gold NPs | 1–150 nm | Aβ-binding peptide | The prepared NPs dissolve toxic protein deposits of Aβ1–42 (amyloid deposits) by the combined use of weak microwave fields and gold NPs without any bulk heating | Hadavi and Poot [32] Sahni et al. [103] Gregori et al. [104] Gao et al. [115] |
Exosomes | 30–100 nm | BACE1-siRNA | Exosomes penetrate the blood-brain barrier and deliver drugs to the brain. They can be strategically engineered to carry drugs and possess a suitable half-life for many diseases | Gregori et al. [104] Sarko et al. [116] Quek et al. [117] Chen et al. [118] Jiang and Gao [119] |
Polystyrene NPs | 240 nm | Penicillamine | Deliver D-penicillamine to the brain for the prevention of Aβ accumulation | Hadavi and Poot [32] Sahni et al. [103] Saraiva et al. [113] |
Core–shell NPs | – | Thioflavin T and S | Tools to trace and clear Aβ in the brain | Sahni et al. [103] Busquets et al. [110] Sonmez et al. [120] |
Nanolipidic and microparticles | 30–80 nm | Polyphenol EGCG, donepezil | Prevent Aβ formation. Acetylcholine esterase inhibitor with high specificity for acetylcholine esterase in the central nervous system | Hadavi and Poot [32] Sahni et al. [103] |
Trimethylated chitosan conjugated-PLGA NPs | 94 ± 8.1 to 146.5 ± 5.1 | Coenzyme Q10(Co-Q10) | Q10-loaded TMC/PLGA–NP greatly improved memory impairment and restoring it to a normal level | Sahni et al. [103] |
Poly(butyl) cyanoacrylate NPs | 178 ± 0.59 to 197 ± 2.3 | Apo-E binding | Attachment of ApoE3 to C-PBCA NPs increased the uptake of curcumin into cells as compared to the plain solution or untargeted NPs | Sahni et al. [103] |
Nanoemulsions | 10–1000 nm | Nano-PSO, lipid-coated microbubble/NP-derived (LCM/ND)-scavenger receptor class B type I | Good solubilization and protection of lipophilic drugs in the oil droplets and easy for large-scale production | Wen et al. [105] Mizrahi et al. [121] |
Microemulsions | 1–100 nm | Huperzine A and ligustrazine phosphate | Microemulsions are optically isotropic and thermodynamically stable liquid solution and showed great improvements in the cerebral cholinergic function and oxidative systems that further slow down the progression of Alzheimer’s disease | Wen et al. [105] Shi et al. [122] |
Dendrimers | – | ADDL—amyloid-beta-derived diffusible ligands, (PPIG4-Mal) and fifth (PPI-G5-Mal) phosphorus-containing dendrimers | To modulate amyloidogenesis and stop the aggregation of Tau protein. Interfering with Aβ fibrilization in Alzheimer’s disease | Wen et al. [105] Tomasz [123] |