Nutraceuticals in cognitive impairment and Alzheimer’s disease

Abstract

Several chemical substances belonging to classes of natural dietary origin display protective properties against some age-related diseases including neurodegenerative ones, particularly Alzheimer’s disease (AD). These compounds, known as nutraceuticals, differ structurally, act therefore at different biochemical and metabolic levels and have shown different types of neuroprotective properties. The aim of this review is to summarize data from observational studies, clinical trials, and randomized clinical trials (RCTs) in humans on the effects of selected nutraceuticals against age-related cognitive impairment and dementia. We report results from studies on flavonoids, some vitamins and other natural substances that have been studied in AD and that might be beneficial for the maintenance of a good cognitive performance. Due to the substantial lack of high-level evidence studies there is no possibility for recommendation of nutraceuticals in dementia-related therapeutic guidelines. Nevertheless, the strong potential for their neuroprotective action warrants further studies in the field.

ESPEN guidelines on nutrition in dementia

“…Among them, phytochemicals like polyphenols, flavonoids or carotenoids are discussed to have strong potential for neuroprotective action [195]. For example, curcumin, a natural phenolic compound derived from the perennial herb Curcuma longa, is well known to exhibit anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activities, and has been claimed to improve cognition.…”

Going Natural: Using polymers from nature for gastroresistant applications

“…They are reported to provide numerous medical or health benefits and their therapeutic value has been documented as anti-fatigue, natural antioxidants and anti-inflammatory agents (Kuppusamy et al, 2014;Zaki, 2014). More significantly, it is claimed they have roles in the prevention or delay of several diseases such as arthritis (Akhtar and Haqqi, 2012), cancer (Kuppusamy et al, 2014;Salami et al, 2013;Wargovich et al, 2010), metabolic (Davi et al, 2010) and cardiovascular diseases (Garcia-Rios et al, 2013;Ramaa et al, 2006;Zuchi et al, 2010), neurodegenerative diseases (Mecocci et al, 2014;Rigacci and Stefani, 2015) and even osteoporosis (Nieves, 2013). However, despite these claims, no clinical evidence has been published so far regarding these products.…”

Improvement of Oral Bioavailability of Curcumin upon Microencapsulation with Methacrylic Copolymers

“…It has been used in traditional Indian medicine for about 6000 years to treat wounds, rheumatism and inflammatory diseases (Corson and Crews, 2007; Jurenka, 2009; Leonti and Casu, 2013) but, in the last 50 years, scientific research demonstrated that CUR possesses additional activities such as antioxidant (Soudamini et al, 1992), anti-inflammatory (Abe et al, 1999), anti-atherosclerotic, anti-angiogenesis, and anti-carcinogenic ones (Kunnumakkara et al, 2008). CUR promotes wound healing and muscle regeneration (Panchatcharam et al, 2006), prevents liver injury and kidney toxicity, and exerts medicinal benefits against psoriasis, diabetes, multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer disease, HIV, septic shock, cardiovascular diseases, lung fibrosis, arthritis, and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), among the most described pathologies (Mecocci et al, 2014; Vecchi Brumatti et al, 2014; Conti et al, 2016). Moreover, CUR demonstrated to successfully inhibit almost every major stage of carcinogenesis, including metastasis (Anand et al, 2008; Liu et al, 2009; Shu et al, 2011).…”