Nanosystems for Intranasal Delivery of Therapeutics in Psychiatric Disorders

Due to the blood-brain barrier (BBB) and issues with oral and other traditional routes of administration, psychiatric disorders present significant challenges in getting therapeutics into the brain. The nose-to-brain pathway, also known as intranasal delivery, has shown promise in overcoming these barriers since it targets the brain directly and bypasses the BBB. This review explores nanocarriers' potential for intranasal delivery of therapeutics in the treatment of psychiatric disorders. Nanocarriers, such as polymeric nanoparticles, liposomes, and nanoemulsions, offer unique advantages for enhancing the delivery of various therapeutic agents to the brain via the intranasal route. The methodology involved conducting preliminary searches on databases such as PubMed, ScienceDirect, Web of Science, and Google Scholar using keywords related to "psychiatric disorders, intranasal delivery, nose-to-brain drug delivery, and nano formulations for intranasal delivery." This review highlights the advantages of the intranasal drug delivery pathway as a non-invasive, reliable, and efficient method for targeting the brain by bypassing the BBB. Furthermore, it discusses the application of various novel nanocarrier-based formulations, including nanoparticles, in-situ gels, nanoemulsions, hydrogels, and liposomes, for the effective intranasal delivery of therapeutics in the treatment of psychiatric conditions such as mood and anxiety disorders schizophrenia, and other illnesses.