Nanomedicines and phytochemicals targeting Alzheimer’s disease

Abstract Neurodegenerative disease is one of the most common age-related disorders, of which Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is one of the most important irreversible progressive forms of dementia resulting in massive loss of neurons, exhibiting symptoms such as initial loss of memory, cognition, reasoning, followed by specific organ-related issues and death toward the later stage. Despite the serious health implications of AD, present therapeutics against AD are primarily for illness management and do not target the disease itself, which warrants development of novel and alternative strategies of treatment. Nanotechnology is a growing field that has explored domains in different sectors; nanomedicine, in particular, has opened up new prospective assistance in developing an effective cure against AD. Several nanoparticle-based therapeutic approaches have been attempted for the treatment of AD, such as dendrimers, fullerenes, lipid-based nanoparticles, polymeric nanoparticles, nanogels, nanoceria, and nanogold that specifically function as drug delivery agents, antioxidative stress agents and prevent protein aggregation. Besides, phytotherapy is a promising alternative treatment strategy utilizing medicinal plants such as Ginkgo biloba, Centella asiatica, Curcuma longa, and Panax ginseng to generate compounds that have neuroprotective effects. In addition, several nano-based phytochemicals have been consistently used for generating phyto-nanoparticles for targeted drug deliveries against AD, such as lectin NPs, bacoside NPs, and quercetin NPs. Through this review, we intend to explore all such relevant aspects related to the nanotechnological advancements for the treatment of AD.