Heavy metals are known to be carcinogenic, mutagenic, and teratogenic. Some heavy metals are necessary while present in the growing medium in moderate concentrations known to be essential heavy metals as they required for the body functioning as a nutrient. But there are some unwanted metals and are also toxic to the environment and create a harmful impact on the body, which termed to be non-essential heavy metals. Upon exposure, the heavy metals decrease the major antioxidants of cells and enzymes with the thiol group and affect cell division, proliferation, and apoptosis. It interacts with the DNA repair mechanism and initiates the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS). It subsequently binds to the mitochondria and may inhibit respiratory and oxidative phosphorylation in even low concentrations. This mechanism leads to damage antioxidant repair mechanism of neuronal cells and turns into neurotoxicity. Now, phytochemicals have led to good practices in the health system. Phytochemicals that are present in the fruits and herbs can preserve upon free radical damage. Thus, this review paper summarized various phytochemicals which can be utilized as a treatment option to reverse the effect of the toxicity caused by the ingestion of heavy metals in our body through various environmental or lifestyles ways.
The use of herbal drugs may offer great potential opportunities in the prevention and control of neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and Huntington’s disease. Herbal drugs contain multiple pharmacologically active constituents. The relative amounts and the nature of these constituents vary due to diverse factors viz plant source and plant parts, extraction method, local environmental conditions, storage conditions, adulterations, and contamination which might be accidently or intentionally. After administration, they are put through the processes of absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion the same as the modern medicines. When handled by the body, they can show combined effect and get interacted with modern drugs due to various factors including similar transport protein interaction, metabolizing cytochrome P450 enzyme, and different transporter mechanisms. Herb drugs can either induce or inhibit CYP450 enzymes. When herbs are combined with the drugs, either they mimic or oppose the effect of drugs. Many studies worldwide indicate the favorable properties of plant extracts or their bioactive compounds against neurodegenerative disorders, but several clinical concerns have appeared regarding the use of these combinations, which could be due to lack of evidence and scientific support for their effectiveness and safety of the patient
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