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Review
. 2020 Apr 1;10(5):434-439.
doi: 10.1016/j.jtcme.2020.03.008. eCollection 2020 Sep.

The role of nutraceuticals as a complementary therapy against various neurodegenerative diseases: A mini-review

Hui-Fang Chiu  1 , Kamesh Venkatakrishnan  2 , Chin-Kun Wang  2
Affiliations
Review

The role of nutraceuticals as a complementary therapy against various neurodegenerative diseases: A mini-review

Hui-Fang Chiu et al. J Tradit Complement Med. .

Abstract

In recent times, many scientists have given great attention to nutraceuticals (complementary medicine) as it widely used for promoting health status. In particular for the prevention and treatment of various neurological diseases or disorders without or less adverse effects. The current mini-review was intended to compile all popular (major) nutraceuticals against various neurodegenerative diseases (NDDs) including Parkinson's disease (PD), Alzheimer's disease (AD), Huntington's disease (HD) with special reference to clinical trials. Preliminary reviews indicated that nutraceuticals like curcumin, resveratrol, Epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), Coenzyme Q10, ω-3 FA (DHA/EPA/ALA), showed better neuroprotective activity against various NDDs in human setting (clinical trial). Hence this contribution will focus only on those popular nutraceuticals with proposed brief mechanisms (antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, mitochondrial homeostasis, autophagy regulation, promote neurogenesis) and its recommendation. This mini-review would aid common people to choose better nutraceuticals to combat various NDDs along with standard neuroprotective agents and modified lifestyle pattern.

Keywords: AD, Alzheimer’s disease; ATP, Adenosine triphosphate; BBB, Blood-brain barrier; Clinical trial; HD, Huntington’s disease; HO-1, Heme Oxygenase-1; JNK, c-Jun N-terminal Kinase; MAPK, Mitogen-activated protein kinase; NDDs, neurodegenerative diseases; NF-κB, Nuclear factor Kappa B; Neurodegenerative diseases; Neuroprotective agents; Nrf2, Nuclear factor-E2-related factor; Nutraceutical; PD, Parkinson’s disease; PI3K, Phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase; SIRT1, Sirtuin 1.

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Conflict of interest statement

All authors declared that no conflict of interest regarding this review paper.

Figures

Image 1
Graphical abstract
Fig. 1
Fig. 1
The compiled neuroprotective function (mechanism of action) of all popular nutraceuticals.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
The overall schematic representation of the mini-review.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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