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REVIEW article

Front. Pharmacol.
Sec. Experimental Pharmacology and Drug Discovery
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fphar.2025.1512941

Polymers for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease

Provisionally accepted
Yunfeng Zhu Yunfeng Zhu 1*Haibin Xu Haibin Xu 2*Chaoyan Yu Chaoyan Yu 3*Wenting Jiang Wenting Jiang 4*Xiaowen Hou Xiaowen Hou 4*Mingyue Ma Mingyue Ma 4*Ji Wu Ji Wu 4*
  • 1 The Second Clinical Medical College, Shenyang Medical College, Shenyang, China
  • 2 Juntendo University, Bunkyō, Tōkyō, Japan
  • 3 The First Clinical Medical College, Shenyang Medical College, Shenyang, China
  • 4 School of Public Health, Shenyang Medical College, Shenyang, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is one of the most common diseases of the central nervous system in the middle-aged and elderly population. It is a neurodegenerative disorder, and its main clinical symptoms include the loss of established memories, a decline in learning capacity, and the buildup of β-amyloid peptides. The disease is often accompanied by neurodegenerative changes and the formation of neurofibrillary tangles. However, the number of drugs available for the clinical treatment of AD remains limited. Currently, existing medications are not effective in completely curing the disease or stopping its progression. Due to their excellent biocompatibility and biodegradability, polymers have been widely used as drug delivery carriers in various fields including cancer therapy and wound healing. The use of polymers enables targeted drug delivery and prolonged release profiles. In recent years, researchers have made significant progress in utilizing polymers such as polyethylene glycol, poly (lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA), and chitosan (CS) to deliver drugs and blood-brain barrier receptor ligands for the treatment of AD. Moreover, many polymers with inherent therapeutic properties have been developed, including the already marketed GV-971 as well as experimental polymers such as PLGA and chitosan oligosaccharide (COS). This review summarizes the applications of polymers in AD treatment over the past few years and highlights their current limitations to help researchers better understand current advancements in polymer development and identify future research directions.

    Keywords: Alzheimer's disease, polymer, Drug Delivery Systems, Psychiatry, nanoparticle

    Received: 20 Oct 2024; Accepted: 13 Jan 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 Zhu, Xu, Yu, Jiang, Hou, Ma and Wu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence:
    Yunfeng Zhu, The Second Clinical Medical College, Shenyang Medical College, Shenyang, China
    Haibin Xu, Juntendo University, Bunkyō, Tōkyō, Japan
    Chaoyan Yu, The First Clinical Medical College, Shenyang Medical College, Shenyang, China
    Wenting Jiang, School of Public Health, Shenyang Medical College, Shenyang, China
    Xiaowen Hou, School of Public Health, Shenyang Medical College, Shenyang, China
    Mingyue Ma, School of Public Health, Shenyang Medical College, Shenyang, China
    Ji Wu, School of Public Health, Shenyang Medical College, Shenyang, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.