Neuro-nutraceuticals: Further insights into their promise for brain health

doi:10.1016/j.neuint.2016.03.016

Neurochemistry International

Volume 95, May 2016, Pages 1-3

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuint.2016.03.016 Get rights and content

Abstract

In this Special Issue on “Nutraceuticals: Molecular and Functional Insights into how Natural Products Nourish the Brain”, the editors bring together contributions from experts in nutraceutical research to provide a contemporary overview of how select chemically identified molecules from natural products can beneficially affect brain function at the molecular level. Other contributions address key emergent issues such as bioavailability, neuronal health, inflammation and the holistic benefit of multi-targeted actions that impact upon how nutraceuticals ultimately leverage the brain to function better. In terms of the benefit of nutraceuticals it is clear that some naturally occurring molecules can be advantageous to both the young and aged brain, and that they have actions that ultimately can be directed to aid either in the improvement of cognition or in the management of debilitating neurodegenerative and neuropsychiatric conditions.

Section snippets

Further insights into the actions of nutraceuticals

One of the goals of this Special Issue was to document the latest advances relevant to natural products where the active principles had been identified and especially where workers in the field were attempting to describe actions at defined targets relevant to the healthy brain and crippling pathologies. Dietary intake of creatine continues to attract much interest – indeed its increased intake can elevate brain creatine, preserve cognitive function under stress and its consumption has thus

Nutraceuticals as anti-inflammatory agents

Inflammation in neuropathologies is now a huge topic of study internationally with innate and adaptive immunity well established and cross-talk between the nervous and immune systems fully accepted. Macrophages are known to invade the brain and interface with the brain's resident inflammatory cells, microglia and astrocytes. The phenotypes of these inflammatory cells in the injured or diseased brain are the centre of great contemporary interest as they may be targets where nutraceuticals could

Dietary supplements: benefits of multi-target approaches

There is frequent mention in the literature of the concept that interactions among various classes of chemicals present in foods may contribute to their potent “nutraceutical actions”. Here Sinha et al. provide a very relevant demonstration of the effectiveness of a nutraceutical “cocktail”. Long-term dietary supplementation of rats with a combination of N-acetylcysteine, α-lipoic and α-tocopherol from 18 months onwards daily till their sacrifice at 22–24 months attenuated the age-related

Nutraceuticals and their promise

The articles in “Nutraceuticals: Molecular and Functional Insights into how Natural Products Nourish the Brain” reflect the topic's dynamic nature and the enthusiasm of authors for this rapidly expanding field. When this Special Issue was planned it was never imagined that it would grow to 39 articles across two volumes, but the number of contributors reflects the vibrancy of ongoing work across different problems, and their internationality demonstrates its global relevance to health and

Acknowledgements

The Editors thank all authors for their quality manuscripts and acknowledge the consistent support received from Dr Michael B. Robinson, Asif Iqbal, Nithya Sathishkumar, Dr Shamus O'Reilly and Dr Bevyn Jarrott. RJW acknowledges the support of the Alzheimer's Society, BRACE and the Dunhill Medical Foundation. KPM received infrastructure support from Inter University Centre for Biomedical Research and Super Speciality Hospital, Kerala State, India. PMB is supported by a NHMRC Research Fellowship (

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Nutraceutical interventions in Alzheimer's disease
2023, Nutraceutical Fruits and Foods for Neurodegenerative Disorders
Neurodegenerative diseases are a group of illnesses that cause gradual deterioration of the central and peripheral nervous systems, leading to loss of function and structure in neurons. There are various factors contributing to the development of neurological degeneration, and it is important to understand the interconnectedness of these factors and the underlying pathologies. They have a wide range of pathologies; some cause memory and cognitive problems, while others limit a person’s ability to move, communicate, breathe, etc. Alzheimer’s disease (AD), Parkinson’s disease (PD), Huntington’s disease, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis are the most well-known neurodegenerative disorders to date. The chapter discusses the potential role of nutraceuticals in the prevention and treatment of neurodegenerative diseases, nutraceuticals, including soy, peanuts, and ginsenoside Rg1, have been found to have neuroprotective properties and can affect various signaling pathways involved in neuroprotection. Antioxidant vitamins, such as vitamin C and vitamin E, have been linked to a decreased risk of PD, according to epidemiological data. Bacosides have been tested in animal models and human volunteers for their therapeutic effects on neuroprotection and memory enhancement. Further dosage-dependent trials are needed to determine the precise dose and regimen for nutraceuticals like bacosides to be used effectively in AD prevention and treatment.
Dendrimers in the context of targeting central nervous system disorders
2022, Journal of Drug Delivery Science and Technology
Citation Excerpt :
Dendrimers, being a nanoparticle, is the carrier of drugs for the treatment of neurological disorders because of their ability to cross the BBB. Neurological ailments possess a major healthcare issue involving complex etiology and thus difficulty in the treatment [80]. Globally, neurological disorders are a major cause of concern as they are the leading cause of disability and death [2].
The treatment of central nervous system disorders, such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, traumatic brain injury, brain cancer, etc. is challenging due to the stringent blood-brain barrier (BBB) that restricts the entry of drugs or therapeutic agents. Few invasive strategies, such as reversible disruption of BBB or direct delivery of drug-loaded nanocarriers are effective but suffer from a lack of patient compliance and other drawbacks. Among the non-invasive strategies of systemic delivery of drugs crossing the BBB, dendrimers have gained the significant interest of researchers. Dendrimers are branched three-dimensional polymeric nanostructures with a large number of functional groups that can be modified for tailored-made functionality. The versatility, biocompatibility, capacity to load drugs into the core and surface, and nanosize are the notable advantages of dendrimers. Ligand conjugated dendrimers can cross the BBB and enhance the internalization of the drugs in the target tissues of the brain. A handful of research has established the effectiveness of dendrimers, alone or drug-loaded in several CNS disorders. However, their entry into the clinical trial phase is still restricted. The original review analyzes the favorable outcome of the brain-targeted dendrimer-based research and the associated challenges to their clinical success.
Regarding: Nutritional factors in sport-related concussion
2022, Neurochirurgie
Fatty acids and beyond: Age and Alzheimer's disease related changes in lipids reveal the neuro-nutraceutical potential of lipids in cognition
2021, Neurochemistry International
Citation Excerpt :
Using gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS) to measure lipid levels, they found that lipid composition of the serum, adipose tissue, and brain had changed with the western diet, with changes in individual lipids differing with tissue type. The health impact of dietary lipids is dependent on total intake, fat type, and the relative abundance of each type (Chianese et al., 2018), and therefore it is essential to consider the bioavailability of particular lipid types when supplemented through diet (Williams et al., 2016). Individual lipids types have differential transportation and uptake into the brain (Mitchell et al., 2011), and supplementation of one lipid can affect levels of another.
Lipids are essential in maintaining brain function, and lipid profiles have been reported to be altered in aged and Alzheimer's disease (AD) brains as compared to healthy mature brains. Both age and AD share common metabolic hallmarks such as increased oxidative stress and perturbed metabolic function, and age remains the most strongly correlated risk factor for AD, a neurodegenerative disease.
A major accompanying pathological symptom of these conditions is cognitive impairment, which is linked with changes in lipid metabolism. Thus, nutraceuticals that affect brain lipid metabolism or lipid levels as a whole have the potential to ameliorate cognitive decline. Lipid analyses and lipidomic studies reveal changes in specific lipid types with aging and AD, which can identify potential lipid-based nutraceuticals to restore the brain to a healthy lipid phenotype. The brain lipid profile can be influenced directly with dietary administration of lipids themselves, although because of synergistic effects of nutrients it may be more useful to consider a multi-component diet rather than single nutrient supplementation. Gut microbiota also serve as a source of beneficial lipids, and the value of treatments that manipulate the composition of gut microbiome should not be ignored. Lastly, instead of direct supplementation, compounds that affect pathways involved with lipid metabolism should also be considered as a way of manipulating lipid levels to improve cognition.
In this review, we briefly discuss the role of lipids in the brain, the changing lipid profile in AD, current research on lipid-based nutraceuticals and their therapeutic potential to combat cognitive impairment.
Caffeine, a natural methylxanthine nutraceutical, exerts dopaminergic neuroprotection
2021, Neurochemistry International
Citation Excerpt :
Neuro-nutraceuticals contain naturally occurring alkaloids, which improve mental health. Some of the know neuro-nutraceutical are coffee (caffeine), capsicum, fruits and vegetables (Quercetin), broccoli (Sulforaphane), turmeric (curcumin), grape (resveratrol), mucuna pruriens (L-DOPA), ginseng, green tea (catechins), fermented products (Synbiotic such as prebiotic, Probiotic) (Chakraborty et al., 2015; Dutta and Mohanakumar, 2015; Gazaryan and Thomas, 2016; Karuppagounder et al., 2009; Mandel and Youdim, 2004; Manyam et al., 2004; Mishra and Palanivelu, 2008; Van Kampen et al., 2003; Williams et al., 2015, 2016; Xu et al., 2002). Nutraceutical-derived formulations modulate inflammation pathways, cell survival and division, cell homeostasis (micronutrition), and maintenance of gut microbial (Markowiak and Slizewska, 2017).
Parkinson's disease (PD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder that affects more than 10 million people worldwide. Oxidative stress and mitochondrial dysfunction play a significant role in altering the homeostasis of energy production and free radical generation. Current PD therapies are focused on reducing the cardinal symptoms rather than preventing disease progression in the patients. Adenosine A_2A receptor (A_2A R) antagonist (Istradephylline) combined with levodopa shows a promising therapy for PD. In animal studies, caffeine administration showed to improve motor functions and neuroprotective effect in the neurons. Caffeine is probably the most extensively used psychoactive substance. In this current study, we investigated the neuroprotective effect of caffeine against 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP)-induced neurodegeneration. Here, we demonstrate that caffeine improves behavioral and neurotransmitter recovery against MPTP-induced toxicity. Caffeine restores endogenous antioxidant levels and suppresses neuroinflammation. Our finding suggests that the blockage of A_2AR is a promising disease-modifying therapy for PD. Target engagement strategies could be more beneficial in preventing disease progression rather than symptomatic reliefs in PD patients.
Introduction
2020, Nutraceuticals in Brain Health and Beyond

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¹: These authors contributed equally to this manuscript.

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EditorialNeuro-nutraceuticals: Further insights into their promise for brain health

Abstract

Section snippets

Further insights into the actions of nutraceuticals

Nutraceuticals as anti-inflammatory agents

Dietary supplements: benefits of multi-target approaches

Nutraceuticals and their promise

Acknowledgements

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Editorial
Neuro-nutraceuticals: Further insights into their promise for brain health