Viral and nonviral approaches

Neurodegenerative diseases pose a substantial unmet medical need, and no disease-modifying treatments exist. Neurotrophic factors have been studied for decades as a therapy to slow down or stop the progression of these diseases. In this chapter, we focus on Parkinson disease, the second most common neurodegenerative disorder, and on studies carried out with neurotrophic factors. We explore the routes of administration, how the invasive intracranial administration is the challenge, and different ways to deliver the therapeutic proteins, for example, gene therapy and protein therapy. This therapy concept has been developed to mostly work on the restoration of the lost nigrostriatal dopaminergic neuronal connectivity in the brain. However, in recent years, the center of attention of neurotrophic factors has been on maintaining proteostasis and dissolving and preventing protein inclusions called Lewy bodies. We describe the most studied neurotrophic factor families and compare different preclinical experiments that have been carried out. We also analyze several clinical trials and describe their challenges and breakthroughs and discuss the prospects and challenges of neurotrophic support as a therapy for neurodegenerative diseases. In this chapter, we discuss why they still do and why it is essential to continue to work with this area of neurorestorative research around neurotrophic factors.