ABSTRACT
Neurodegenerative diseases are a group of conditions that affect neurons of the central nervous system characterised by progressive cellular degeneration and symptoms that significantly compromise the quality of life of patients and caretakers. Conventional treatments deal with obstacles such as the long course of the disease and the challenges of penetrating the blood–brain barrier. In the landscape of pharmaceutical research, scientists are driving their efforts towards the development of novel and efficient drug delivery systems. For an effective brain-targeting approach, several types of biodegradable nanoparticles are being exploited as promising delivery systems for drugs in the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases. While surface tailoring of nanoparticles with targeting moieties has been demonstrated to improve brain delivery, the nanoparticles need to be biodegradable, biocompatible and stable when sterilised. This chapter addresses the challenges encountered in the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases, namely, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases, focussing on nanoparticles being developed for site-specific delivery of drugs to the brain and their sterilised production.
