Fighting Epilepsy with Nanomedicines-Is This the Right Weapon?

Epilepsy is a chronic and complex condition and is one of the most common neurological diseases, affecting about 50 million people worldwide. Pharmacological therapy has been, and is likely to remain, the main treatment approach for this disease. Although a large number of new antiseizure drugs (ASD...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Pharmaceutics 2023-01, Vol.15 (2), p.306
Main Authors: Matias, Mariana, Santos, Adriana O, Silvestre, Samuel, Alves, Gilberto
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Anticonvulsants
antiseizure drugs
Carbohydrates
Clinical medicine
Convulsions & seizures
Diet
Dosage and administration
Drug interactions
Drug resistance
Drug targeting
Drug therapy
Epilepsy
Innovations
lipid-based nanosystems
Mortality
Nanomedicine
nanomedicines
nanotechnology
Pharmaceutical industry
polymeric nanoparticles
Quality of life
Review
Surgery
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Summary:Epilepsy is a chronic and complex condition and is one of the most common neurological diseases, affecting about 50 million people worldwide. Pharmacological therapy has been, and is likely to remain, the main treatment approach for this disease. Although a large number of new antiseizure drugs (ASDs) has been introduced into the market in the last few years, many patients suffer from uncontrolled seizures, demanding the development of more effective therapies. Nanomedicines have emerged as a promising approach to deliver drugs to the brain, potentiating their therapeutic index. Moreover, nanomedicine has applied the knowledge of nanoscience, not only in disease treatment but also in prevention and diagnosis. In the current review, the general features and therapeutic management of epilepsy will be addressed, as well as the main barriers to overcome to obtain better antiseizure therapies. Furthermore, the role of nanomedicines as a valuable tool to selectively deliver drugs will be discussed, considering the ability of nanocarriers to deal with the less favourable physical-chemical properties of some ASDs, enhance their brain penetration, reduce the adverse effects, and circumvent the concerning drug resistance.
ISSN:1999-4923
1999-4923
DOI:10.3390/pharmaceutics15020306