Antioxidants Against Neurological Disorders

Abstract

The advent and progression of neurological disorders has found to be related to oxidative stress. Reactive oxygen and nitrogen species play an instrumental role in triggering cascade of inflammatory and degenerative changes due to damage of proteins, cell membrane, mitochondria as well as DNA. Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Alzheimer's disease, stroke, Huntington's disease, trigeminal neuralgia and Parkinson's disease are few examples of diseases related to neuronal damage. The researchers globally have utilized both synthetic as well as natural antioxidants for controlling the progression of neurodegenerative changes in various pathologies of the brain as they have shown promising results in regaining the redox balance thereby alleviating oxidative stress. Exogeneous antioxidants used for the cure as well as neurodegenerative diseases management include hormones, vitamins, carotenes and polyphenols. In spite of showing encouraging results in preclinical investigations for neurodegenerative diseases, their clinical application is restricted to only adjunct therapy. The reasons attributed to poor clinical use include their poor bioavailability, administration of high and repeated doses for achieving a therapeutic effect as well as instability in some cases. In order to overcome these challenges the antioxidants are delivered by various nanotechnology based therapeutic systems. This chapter will provide explain the antioxidants role in management of neurodegenerative diseases besides providing information about the various dosage forms which are explored for the effective administration of these antioxidants for treating neurological diseases.