Emerging trends in the delivery of nanoformulated oxytocin across Blood-Brain barrier

Neurological diseases are related to the central nervous system disorders and considered as serious cases. Several drugs are used to treat neurological diseases; however, to date the main issue is to design a therapeutic model which can cross the blood–brain-barrier (BBB) easily. The delivery of neuropeptides into the brain lays as one of the important routes for treating neurological disorders. Neuropeptides have been demonstrated as potential therapeutics for neurological disorders.

Among numerous neuropeptides, the oxytocin (OT) hormone is of particular interest as it serves as a neurotransmitter in the brain as well as its role as a hormone. OT has a wide-range of activities in the brain and has a key role in cognitive, neuroendocrine, and social functions. However, OT does not cross the BBB readily coupled with its half-life in the blood being too short. The current literature reveals that the delivery of OT by nanoparticle-based drug delivery system (DDS) improves its efficacy. Nanoparticle based DDS are considered important tools for the targeted delivery of drugs to the brain as they lower toxicity of the drug and improve the drug efficacy. Nanoparticles are advantageous candidates for biomedical applications due to their distinctive characteristics such as quantum effects, large surface area and their ability to carry and transport the drug to its target site.

OT can be delivered through oral and intranasal routes, but the bioavailability of OT inside the brain can further be enhanced by the delivery using nanoparticles. The application of nano-based delivery system not only improves the penetration of OT inside brain but also increases its half-life by the application of encapsulation and extended release. The aim of current review is to provide an overview of nanoparticle-based drug-delivery systems for the delivery of OT inside brain.

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Article information: Ebtesam Abdullah Al-Suhaimi, Muhammad Nawaz, Firdos A. Khan, Meneerah Abdulrahman Aljafary, Abdulhadi Baykal, Abdelgadir M. Homeida, Emerging trends in the delivery of nanoformulated oxytocin across Blood-Brain barrier, International Journal of Pharmaceutics, Volume 609, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpharm.2021.121141.