Exploring the therapeutic potential of neuropeptides in neurodegenerative disease (NDD): A review

Neurodegenerative diseases (NDD), in which neuronal cells disintegrate, bring about deteriorations in cognitive functions as is evidenced in millions of patients. The use of therapeutic potential of neuropeptides (NP's) or treating CNS disorders has attracted the interest of the scientific community. NP's are expressed and released by neurons, and mediate neuronal communication by acting on cell surface receptors and are presented as the processed, biologically active products of the neuropeptide precursors alongwith the encoding gene. As CNS (Central nervous system) is one of the most eminent part of the brain which drives very crucial sensory motor activities in human body. Moreover, any physiological restrictions like BBB (blood brain barrier), CSF (cerebro spinal fluid) etc. may lead to non transportation of drug molecules in diseased conditions, specifically NDD's. Therefore, the role of neuropeptides for the treatment of same is been explored heavily as they are able to pass through this barrier without being altered or denatured and have proved to possess significant therapeutic potential against NDD's. The present paper focuses on structure and functions of various neuropeptides like Nerve growth factor (NGF), Activity derived neurotrophic factor (ADNF) and Vasoactive intestinal protein (VIP) etc. for their properties by which they help in treating neurodegeneration process. Further, different strategies and formulations of targeted drug delivery of neuropeptides like addition of NGF loaded microspheres to PC12 cell line, intranasal administration of fatty neuropeptide and nanoparticle for growth factor delivery were also discussed. These observations on the carriage and release of growth factors by the proposed mechanisms open new therapeutic options for both neuronal regeneration and for the development of effective neuronal interfaces.