Medicinal Plants and Phytochemicals of Potential Importance in the Developmental Process and Treatment of Alzheimer’s Disease

Abstract

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease that causes dementia, characterized by decline in memory and cognitive impairment. The severity and therefore the onset of dementia observed in AD varies between individuals and populations, depending on genetic and environmental factors. Despite the application of versatile therapeutic strategies to overcome AD and other neurodege-nerative diseases, success is only limited to symptomatic treatment. Therapeutic interventions that can delay the onset or progression of AD will significantly contribute to reduce the prevalence of the disease. In this respect, medicinal plants have been used for memory enhancement and other complications related to dementia since ancient times. Researches reveal that medicinal plants and phytochemicals obtained from them have potential importance in the treatment of AD. Although the mechanisms of action have not been completely elucidated; different parts of plants, containing many valuable phytochemical compounds such as polyphenols (flavonoids, tannins), lignans, triterpenes, sterols and alkaloids with a wide range of pharmacological activities, including anti-inflammatory, anti-amyloidogenic, anticholinesterase, hypolipidemic and antioxidant effects, are potent resources for drug development studies. In the presented review, a variety of plants and phytochemicals, which show promising effects in the pharmacological field for decreasing the progression of the disease and the development of effective treatment strategies for AD have been summarized with their mechanism of action.