11 - Brain local delivery strategy

Abstract

Central nervous system (CNS) disorders are one of the most life style-affecting diseases. There was immense financial burden on the management of various disorders that are localized in brain. Majority of the available systemic treatments for the local brain disorders failed due to the inability of the drugs to cross blood-brain barrier. Many approaches have been used to improve brain bioavailability of various promising candidates. But the systemic therapy always invites nonspecific activity to other tissues, even though the drug permeates at significant concentrations. Similarly, these approaches cannot maintain significant concentrations of drug at specific sites like tumor, infected parenchymal lining, etc. These issues paved way for the development of local drug delivery systems for brain. These systems were effective in maintaining significant concentrations of drug at target site, thus reducing dose and toxicity. This chapter will discuss about the local drug delivery strategies to brain. The chapter starts with the introduction to CNS. This will be followed by brief introduction for local drug delivery followed by potential applications. All the local drug delivery strategies to brain are discussed in detail. This is then followed by marketed products for these approaches and clinical trials involving local drug delivery strategies were also reported in the chapter.