Local controlled drug delivery to the brain: mathematical modeling of the underlying mass transport mechanisms

The mass transport mechanisms involved in the controlled delivery of drugs to living brain tissue are complex and yet not fully understood. Often the drug is embedded within a polymeric or lipidic matrix, which is directly administered into the brain tissue, that is, intracranially. Different types of systems, including microparticles and disc- or rod-shaped implants are used to control the release rate and, thus, to optimize the drug concentrations at the site of action in the brain over prolonged periods of time. Most of these dosage forms are biodegradable to avoid the need for the removal of empty remnants after drug exhaustion. Various physical and chemical processes are involved in the control of drug release from these systems, including water penetration, drug dissolution, degradation of the matrix and drug diffusion. Once the drug has been released from the delivery system, it has to be transported through the living brain tissue to the target site(s). Again, a variety of phenomena, including diffusion, drug metabolism and degradation, passive or active uptake into CNS tissue and convection can be of importance for the fate of the drug. An overview is given of the current knowledge of the nature of barriers to free access of drug to tumour sites within the brain and the state of the art of: (i) mathematical modeling approaches describing the physical transport processes and chemical reactions which can occur in different types of intracranially administered drug delivery systems, and of (ii) theories quantifying the mass transport phenomena occurring after drug release in the living tissue. Both, simplified as well as complex mathematical models are presented and their major advantages and shortcomings discussed. Interestingly, there is a significant lack of mechanistically realistic, comprehensive theories describing both parts in detail, namely, drug transport in the dosage form and in the living brain tissue. High quality experimental data on drug concentrations in the brain tissue are difficult to obtain, hence this is itself an issue in testing mathematical approaches. As a future perspective, the potential benefits and limitations of these mathematical theories aiming to facilitate the design of advanced intracranial drug delivery systems and to improve the efficiency of the respective pharmacotherapies are discussed.