Nanobiotechnology in Neurodegenerative Diseases

"Neurodegenerative disease" is a term for a variety of disorders that primarily affect neurons in the human brain and spinal cord. These diseases are presently incurable and result in progressive degeneration or death of nerve cells, resulting in impaired movement (ataxia, Parkinsonism, paresis) or mental functions (dementia). The most common neurodegenerative diseases include Parkinson's disease and other parkinsonian syndromes, Alzheimer's disease and other non-Alzheimer's dementias, Friedreich's disease and other spinocerebellar atrophy, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, and other diseases manifesting symptoms such as restriction of free movement, tremor, chorea, dystonia, myoclonus, other abnormal movements, dementia, and other cognitive disorders. Neurodegenerative diseases are highly prevalent and are among the most serious diseases in terms of health and socioeconomic impact. These diseases are not limited to older age groups, but affect also children and adults of working age. The current therapies cannot cure the diseases; they only ameliorate or relieve symptoms. All employed drugs have their targeted site of action in the central nervous system; thus, overcoming the blood-brain barrier is a necessity. Nanotechnology provides a new dimension and new properties to all materials and, in particular, allows central nervous system targeting of nanoscale formulations with increased brain permeation, and it is, thus, widely used for the production of a new generation of pharmaceuticals and theranostics with improved drug bioavailability, reduced undesirable side effects, minimized nonspecific uptake, and specific targeting to certain target cells. This chapter presents a comprehensive overview of recent findings in the field of investigation and application of nanoformulations tested/used for the alleviation or treatment of Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, multiple sclerosis, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Huntington's disease, and Wilson's disease as well as nanosensors applied for diagnostics or a treatment monitoring of neurodegenerative diseases.