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Nanocarrier-based drug delivery for mild cognitive impairment: Extracellular vesicles and carbon nanotubes as emerging therapeutic tools
Dario Allevi, Antonio Luchicchi, Nicola Salvatore Orefice. Biomedicine & Pharmacotherapy, 2025-08-07
Topic: Brain proteins, microglia and lab models
Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is the in-between stage between healthy cognitive aging and neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease (AD). As MCI becomes increasingly prevalent in aging populations, there is an urgent need for innovative, targeted strategies to slow its progression. Among emerging tools, extracellular vesicles (EVs) and carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have attracted growing interest as nanocarrier systems with unique abilities to cross the blood-brain barrier (BBB) and deliver therapeutic cargo. This review gathers a detailed overview of their biological mechanisms, engineering strategies, and current preclinical applications, providing new perspectives on how these approaches can potentially delay the progression of MCI. Emphasis is placed on integrating these nanotechnologies into the pathological framework of MCI, highlighting their dual diagnostic and therapeutic potential. By connecting nanomedicine with the pathophysiology of cognitive impairment, this review outlines new frontiers in MCI intervention.
Key findings
- As MCI becomes increasingly prevalent in aging populations, there is an urgent need for innovative, targeted strategies to slow its progression.
- Among emerging tools, extracellular vesicles (EVs) and carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have attracted growing interest as nanocarrier systems with unique abilities to cross the blood-brain barrier (BBB) and deliver therapeutic cargo.
- This review gathers a detailed overview of their biological mechanisms, engineering strategies, and current preclinical applications, providing new perspectives on how these approaches can potentially delay the progression of MCI.
- Emphasis is placed on integrating these nanotechnologies into the pathological framework of MCI, highlighting their dual diagnostic and therapeutic potential.
- By connecting nanomedicine with the pathophysiology of cognitive impairment, this review outlines new frontiers in MCI intervention.
Why it matters
This review discusses extracellular vesicles and carbon nanotubes as nanocarrier systems that can cross the blood-brain barrier and deliver therapeutic cargo, with current applications being preclinical. It outlines potential approaches to delay mild cognitive impairment progression, but no treatment or cure is established.
Study details
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 32/100
Published in a peer-reviewed journal. Scored zero for study design, sample size, effect reported, studied in people and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (Biomedicine & Pharmacotherapy) |
| Journal's citation record | 2 / 4 | Biomedicine & Pharmacotherapy: journal h-index 227 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29) |
| Study design | 0 / 12 | No study design recorded — scores zero, not guessed (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Strength of evidence | 1 / 5 | Rated “low” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 4 / 5 | 2025 — within 3 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 0 / 4 | Participant count not stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Effect reported | 0 / 3 | No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Studied in people | 0 / 3 | Not stated whether this was studied in people — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | 1 / 7 | Cited 1 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 0 / 5 | 0.3 citations a year over 3 year(s) since 2025 |
| Impact for its field and year | 1 / 6 | Cited 0.3× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 0 / 6 | No other study in this library cites it |
| Still being cited | 0 / 4 | Cited 1 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | 1 / 4 | Last-listed author Nicola Salvatore Orefice: h-index 14 (OpenAlex, whole career) |
| Institution's track record | 0 / 3 | Amsterdam University Medical Centers: institution h-index 677 (OpenAlex) |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 1 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 3 institution(s) in 2 countries |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 40774851) |
| Free to read | 2 / 2 | Free to read |
| Total | 32 / 100 | — |
What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →
Read the original
- DOI: 10.1016/j.biopha.2025.118381
- PubMed: 40774851
- Original source →
- Free full text: Biomedicine & Pharmacotherapy →
Full text: free to read — OpenAlex lists this copy as free to read: the link above (checked 6 Feb 1020).
Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
Built from the record alzhub holds for this paper, not looked up. Volume, issue and page numbers are not held in the record. Check the citation against the original before you use it.
APA 7th
Allevi, D., Luchicchi, A., & Orefice, N. S. (2025). Nanocarrier-based drug delivery for mild cognitive impairment: Extracellular vesicles and carbon nanotubes as emerging therapeutic tools. Biomedicine & Pharmacotherapy. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopha.2025.118381
Vancouver
Allevi D, Luchicchi A, Orefice NS. Nanocarrier-based drug delivery for mild cognitive impairment: Extracellular vesicles and carbon nanotubes as emerging therapeutic tools. Biomedicine & Pharmacotherapy. 2025. doi:10.1016/j.biopha.2025.118381. PMID: 40774851.
BibTeX
@article{allevi2025-40774851,
author = {Allevi, Dario and Luchicchi, Antonio and Orefice, Nicola Salvatore},
title = {{Nanocarrier-based drug delivery for mild cognitive impairment: Extracellular vesicles and carbon nanotubes as emerging therapeutic tools}},
journal = {Biomedicine \& Pharmacotherapy},
year = {2025},
doi = {10.1016/j.biopha.2025.118381},
pmid = {40774851},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopha.2025.118381}
}
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