Generic placeholder image

Current Pharmaceutical Biotechnology

Editor-in-Chief

ISSN (Print): 1389-2010
ISSN (Online): 1873-4316

Experimental Methods and Transport Models for Drug Delivery Across the Blood-Brain Barrier

Author(s): Bingmei M. Fu

Volume 13, Issue 7, 2012

Page: [1346 - 1359] Pages: 14

DOI: 10.2174/138920112800624409

Price: $65

Abstract

The blood-brain barrier (BBB) is a dynamic barrier essential for maintaining the micro-environment of the brain. Although the special anatomical features of the BBB determine its protective role for the central nervous system (CNS) from blood-born neurotoxins, however, the BBB extremely limits the therapeutic efficacy of drugs into the CNS, which greatly hinders the treatment of major brain diseases. This review summarized the unique structures of the BBB, described a variety of in vivo and in vitro experimental methods for determining the transport properties of the BBB, e.g., the permeability of the BBB to water, ions, and solutes including nutrients, therapeutic agents and drug carriers, and presented newly developed mathematical models which quantitatively correlate the anatomical structures of the BBB with its barrier functions. Finally, on the basis of the experimental observations and the quantitative models, several strategies for drug delivery through the BBB were proposed.

Keywords: Drug delivery, in vivo and in vitro blood-brain barrier models, paracellular pathway, permeability of the bloodbrain barrier, transcellualr pathway, transport models.


Rights & Permissions Print Cite
© 2024 Bentham Science Publishers | Privacy Policy