Mitochondria-Targeted Liposomal Delivery in Parkinson’s Disease

Mitochondrial dysfunction in Parkinson’s Disease (PD) is implicated through both environmental exposure and genetic factors (Grünewald et al. 2016; Tzoulis et al. 2013; Flønes et al. 2018; Fonseca-Fonseca et al. 2021). The first evidence reported of mitochondrial dysfunction associated with PD was in 1983 when 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) exposure caused parkinsonian-like symptoms (Langston et al. 1983; Langston and Ballard 1983). Currently, there are limited approved drugs for the treatment of PD and these drugs only offer treatment for symptomatic purposes (Zhen and Chu 2020). However, as research advancements emerge in this field, organ-specific targeted therapies are receiving high priority as future therapeutic approaches hence nano-drug carriers like liposomes came into the valuable options for the treatment of PD. Around 30 years ago, researchers found a new way of delivering medicinal substances to specific areas of the brain-by injecting them into a certain part, in this case, the rat’s striatum. Liposomes loaded with dopamine partially ameliorated the cognitive and motor deficits in a PD rat model, as well as demonstrated the importance of targeted delivery to the brain (During et al. 1992).