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Updated: Sep 25, 2026

Novel Methods for Intranasal Administration Under Inhalation Anesthesia to Evaluate Nose-to-Brain Drug Delivery
Published on: November 14, 2018
Direct access of drugs to the human brain after intranasal drug administration?
Paul Merkus1, Henk-Jan Guchelaar, D Andries Bosch
1Department of Otorhinolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery, Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands. P.Merkus@VUmc.nl
Abstract:
It has been suggested that intranasal (IN) drug delivery could be used to administer drugs directly to the brain, bypassing the blood-brain barrier. Conclusive evidence of this proposed route of drug transport has not been observed by IN-IV comparison. In eight neurosurgery patients with a CSF drain, the uptake in CSF and plasma after IN and IV drug administration was compared. No evidence of direct access of the drugs from the nose to the CSF was found.
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