Current Perspective of Carbon Nanotubes Application in Neurology

The recent advances in nanotechnology have allowed new fields of research to investigate cutting edge brain-specific therapies and to tackle the complex brain-related disorders. The blood-brain barrier (BBB) is a major obstacle for drug delivery to the brain resulting in only few drugs reaching the market to tackle brain disorders. Nanoparticles (NPs) provide a flexible platform for conjugating drugs and targeting ligands and have been extensively researched to facilitate BBB crossing and effective delivery to the brain. In addition, the inherent properties of NPs are being utilized to facilitate other therapeutic possibilities. One example is carbon nanotubes (CNTs), which exhibit several attractive characteristics allowing their use in the brain environment. The properties include a high aspect ratio, the ability to penetrate biological membranes due to their tubular shape and their infrared absorption properties. In this chapter, we review major advances in using CNTs for treating brain tumor and degenerative diseases with special focus on their abilities to cross the BBB following systemic administration, which is the major obstacle for most other NPs.