A new method has been developed by the scientists at the Oxford University in UK for delivering the complex drugs directly to the brain.
Researchers in a study said that the new method is a necessary step for treating Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, motor neurone diseases and muscular dystrophy.

In an experiment involving mice, scientists switched off the BACE1 gene present in Alzheimer’s disease by intravenously injecting exosomes, which are able to ferry a drug across the normally impermeable blood-brain barrier to the brain.
This has resulted a 60% decrease in the gene’s activity.

At the University of Oxford Dr Matthew Wood of the Department of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics said, “These are dramatic and exciting results. It’s the first time new ‘biological’ medicines have been delivered effectively across the blood-brain barrier to the brain.”
One of the medical challenges with diseases of the brain is getting any treatment to cross the blood-brain barrier, which protects the brain by preventing bacteria from crossing over from the blood, while letting oxygen through.
This has however proved a problem for medicine, as drugs can also be blocked by the barrier.

“The major barrier for these drugs is delivery,” added Dr Wood. “This problem becomes even greater when you want to reach the brain.”
Neurosurgery is to be involved in delivering any such type of therapy to the brain.