Meningitis is an inflammation of the protective membranes called meninges and fluid adjacent the brain and spinal cord. The inflammatory progression expands all through subarachnoid space of the brain and spinal cord and occupies the ventricles. The pathogens like bacteria, fungi, viruses, or parasites are main sources of infection causing meningitis. Bacterial meningitis is a life-threatening health problem that which needs instantaneous apprehension and treatment. Nesseria meningitidis, Streptococcus pneumoniae, and Haemophilus flu are major widespread factors causing bacterial meningitis. The conventional drug delivery approaches encounter difficulty in crossing this blood-brain barrier (BBB) and therefore are insufficient to elicit the desired pharmacological effect as required for treatment of meningitis. Therefore, application of nanoparticle-based drug delivery systems has become imperative for successful dealing with this deadly disease. The nanoparticles have ability to across BBB via four important transport mechanisms, i.e., paracellular transport, transcellular (transcytosis), endocytosis (adsorptive transcytosis), and receptor-mediated transcytosis. In this review, we reminisce distinctive symptoms of meningitis, and provide an overview of various types of bacterial meningitis, with a focus on its epidemiology, pathogenesis, and pathophysiology. This review describes conventional therapeutic approaches for treatment of meningitis and the problems encountered by them while transmitting across tight junctions of BBB. The nanotechnology approaches like functionalized polymeric nanoparticles, solid lipid nanoparticles, nanostructured lipid carrier, nanoemulsion, liposomes, transferosomes, and carbon nanotubes which have been recently evaluated for treatment or detection of bacterial meningitis have been focused. This review has also briefly summarized the recent patents and clinical status of therapeutic modalities for meningitis.

脑膜炎是大脑和脊髓附近称为脑膜和液体的保护膜的炎症。炎症进展遍及大脑和脊髓的蛛网膜下腔并占据脑室。细菌、真菌、病毒或寄生虫等病原体是引起脑膜炎的主要感染源。细菌性脑膜炎是一种危及生命的健康问题，需要立即予以关注和治疗。脑膜炎奈瑟菌、肺炎链球菌和流感嗜血杆菌是引起细菌性脑膜炎的主要广泛因素。传统的药物递送方法在穿过这种血脑屏障 (BBB) 时遇到困难，因此不足以引发治疗脑膜炎所需的所需药理作用。因此，基于纳米颗粒的药物输送系统的应用已成为成功应对这种致命疾病的必要条件。纳米颗粒能够通过四种重要的转运机制穿过血脑屏障，即细胞旁路转运、跨细胞（转胞吞作用）、内吞作用（吸附转胞吞作用）和受体介导的转胞吞作用。在这篇综述中，我们回顾了脑膜炎的独特症状，并概述了各种类型的细菌性脑膜炎，重点是其流行病学、发病机制和病理生理学。这篇综述描述了治疗脑膜炎的常规治疗方法以及它们在通过 BBB 紧密连接传输时遇到的问题。纳米技术方法，如功能化聚合物纳米颗粒、固体脂质纳米颗粒、纳米结构脂质载体、纳米乳剂、脂质体、转移体和碳纳米管，最近被评估用于治疗或检测细菌性脑膜炎。本综述还简要总结了脑膜炎治疗方式的最新专利和临床状态。纳米结构脂质载体、纳米乳剂、脂质体、转移体和碳纳米管最近已被评估用于治疗或检测细菌性脑膜炎。本综述还简要总结了脑膜炎治疗方式的最新专利和临床状态。纳米结构脂质载体、纳米乳剂、脂质体、转移体和碳纳米管最近已被评估用于治疗或检测细菌性脑膜炎。本综述还简要总结了脑膜炎治疗方式的最新专利和临床状态。