Neuro-nutraceuticals: Natural products nourish the brain but be aware of contrary effects

Robert J. Williams, Kochupurackal P. Mohanakumar, Philip M. Beart

Research output: Contribution to journalEditorialpeer-review

6 Citations (SciVal)

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 the holistic benefit of herbal medicines and their multi-targeted actions, which improve brain function in diverse cellular and animal models of brain injury. Not only are new targets for nutraceuticals reported, but their benefits on neurobehavioural problems are elucidated in conditions as diverse as obesity and menopause. Inflammation in neuropathologies, including Alzheimer's disease (AD), remains a huge focus and diverse nutraceuticals demonstrate therapeutic applicability via glial-mediated actions. While contrary actions should be borne in mind in the search for novel neurotherapeutics, the great promise offered by herbal medicines and their newly identified active principles offers unique options for the management of diverse neurological and psychiatric conditions.

Original languageEnglish
Article number105159
Number of pages4
JournalNeurochemistry International
Volume150
Early online date14 Aug 2021
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 30 Nov 2021

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
The Editors thank all authors for their quality manuscripts and acknowledge the consistent support received from Dr Keiji Wada, Xavier Mathew and Dr Shamus O'Reilly. RJW acknowledges the support of Alzheimer's Society and Alzheimer's Research UK. KPM received infrastructure and Plan supports from the Department of Higher Education, Govt. of Kerala, India. PMB was supported in part by a NH&MRC Research Fellowship. The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health receives infrastructure support from the Victorian State Government (Australia).

Publisher Copyright:
© 2021

Keywords

  • Alzheimer's disease
  • Contrary actions
  • Inflammation
  • Neuropathologies
  • Nutraceutical
  • Traditional medicine

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience
  • Cell Biology

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Neuro-nutraceuticals: Natural products nourish the brain but be aware of contrary effects'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this