In vitro blood brain barrier models as a screening tool for colloidal drug delivery systems and other nanosystems

Abstract

The brain is one of the least accessible organs of the body due to the presence of the blood-brain barrier (BBB), thus making drug delivery to the brain quite a challenge. Various strategies have been explored to circumvent this physiological barrier, including the use of colloidal carriers. These carriers hold great promise as they may increase the delivery of drugs into the brain by protecting them from degradation and prolonging their circulation in the blood, as well as promoting their transport through the BBB. Moreover, functionalisation of these carriers with various ligands allows specific targeting of the central nervous system compartment. Additionally, various in vitro BBB models have been developed and are increasingly useful for screening of drug delivery systems, especially cell-based models that provide mechanistic information. In fact, this paper specifically reviews selected in vitro BBB models as a screening tool for drug delivery colloidal systems.Keywords: drug delivery; colloidal systems; nanocarriers; nanoparticles; liposomes; micelles; blood-brain barrier; BBB; in vitro model.Reference to this paper should be made as follows: Garcel, A., Martel, S., Carrupt, P.A., Doelker, E. and Delie, F. (2010) 'In vitro blood brain barrier models as a screening tool for colloidal drug delivery systems and other nanosystems', Int.

Nanotechnology for CNS delivery of bio-therapeutic agents

“…Figure 1-1 shows some of the common transport pathways across the BBB [3]. Due to the presence of tight junctions at the cerebral microvasculature, the predominant mechanisms for transport of therapeutics across the BBB are either by lipid-mediated free diffusion (which is restricted to lipophilic small molecules), or by use of endogenous uptake transporters present at the luminal side of the BBB [4].…”