Nutraceuticals in Neurological Disorders

Abstract

Neurological diseases are one of the major healthcare issues worldwide. Posed lifestyle changes are associated with drastically increased risk of chronic illness and diseases, posing a substantial healthcare and financial burden to society globally. Researchers aim to provide fine treatment for ailing disorders with minimal exposed side effects. In recent decades, several studies on functional foods have been initiated to obtain foods that have fewer side effects and increased therapeutic activity. Hence, an attempt has been made to unravel several extraction techniques to acquire essential bioactive compounds or phytochemicals from therapeutically active food products. This has led to the conception of the term functional foods being meddled with other similar terms like "pharmafoods," "medifoods", "vitafoods", or "medicinal foods". With a dire need to adhere towards healthy options, the demand of nutraceuticals is widely increasing to combat neurological interventions. An association between food habits and the individual lifestyle with neurodegeneration has been manifested, thereby proposing the role of nutraceuticals as prophylactic treatment for neurological interventions. The current review covers some of the major neurological disorders and nutraceutical therapy in the prevention of disease.

Keywords: food supplements; herbal therapeutics; neurodegeneration; neurological disorders; nutraceuticals.

Figure 1

Some of the most commonly used nutraceuticals that can be employed as adjunctive therapy in the management of neurological degeneration, Parkinson’s disease, depression, Alzheimer’s disease, and psychosis simultaneously [1,2,4].

Figure 2

Summarized pathogenesis of misfolded proteins and neurodegeneration mediated upon their activation. The misfolded proteins lead to the activation of cascade of inflammatory proteins, such as nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells (NF-κB), inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), and cyclooxygenase (COX), and activation of interleukins and inflammatory cytokines, which leads to inflammation and further neurodegeneration. Inhibition of these cascade proteins by active nutraceuticals tends to provide neuroprotective action.

Figure 3

Nutraceuticals in Parkinson’s disease act by three pathways. 1. By preventing oxidative stress, which leads to protection of mitochondria from further damage and dysfunction and ultimately maintains energy homeostasis and cellular metabolism; 2. Activation of misfolded proteins and their aggregation induces stress in endoplasmic reticulum (ER), which further causes autophagy and degradation of neuronal proteins. 3. Inflammation in neuronal cells is the main cause of neurodegeneration and onset of Parkinson’s disease [77,78,79,80].