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Review
. 2026 Jan 3.
doi: 10.1002/bdd.70021. Online ahead of print.

Nose to Brain Delivery of Curcumin Loaded Therapeutic Nanostructures for Neurodegenerative Diseases

Rupsikha Kalita  1   2 , Anupam Sarma  1 , Himakshi Baruah  1 , Asifa Zaman  1   3 , Deepjyoti Goswami  1
Affiliations
Review

Nose to Brain Delivery of Curcumin Loaded Therapeutic Nanostructures for Neurodegenerative Diseases

Rupsikha Kalita et al. Biopharm Drug Dispos. .

Abstract

Neurodegenerative diseases are progressive disorders that damage and eventually kill neurons in the central nervous system (CNS). In recent years, various research has been done on reliable and effective treatment methods for the most common neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's, Alzheimer, and Migraine diseases. Different neurodegenerative disorders such as Huntington's disease, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, amyotrophic, Lewy body disease can be treated by curcumin, which is a strong antioxidant polyphenol with neuroprotective and anti-amyloid properties. However, Blood-brain barrier (BBB) and blood cerebrospinal fluid barrier restricts the permeation of curcumin to the brain leads poor distribution of the drug in brain tissue. The intranasal pathway holds promise for enhancing the treatment of CNS disorders since it bypasses the BBB and increases the brain bioavailability of drug. As nanotechnology continues to improve, research on the delivery of drug through intranasal route has grown significantly in last 10 years. Several nanocarriers have been developed such as nano-emulsions, microspheres, dendrimers, liposomes, carbon-based nanoformulation, and nanoparticles to deliver curcumin to the brain via intranasal route for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases. This study provided a thorough analysis of several curcumin nano-formulations used in intranasal pathway as a novel treatment for neurodegenerative diseases.

Keywords: bioavailability; blood‐brain barrier; curcumin; formulation; intranasal drug delivery; nanoparticles; neurodegenerative.

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References

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