Phyto-Therapeutic and Nanomedicinal Approaches to Cure Alzheimer’s Disease: Present Status and Future Opportunities

Abstract

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is characterized by cognitive inability manifested due to the accumulation of β-amyloid, formation of hyper phosphorylated neurofibrillary tangles, and a malfunctioned cholinergic system. The degeneration integrity of the neuronal network can appear long after the onset of the disease. Nanotechnology-based interventions have opened an exciting area via theranostics of AD in terms of tailored nanomedicine, which are able to target and deliver drugs across the blood–brain barrier (BBB). The exciting interface existing between medicinal plants and nanotechnology is an emerging marvel in medicine, which has delivered promising results in the treatment of AD. In order to assess the potential applications of the medicinal plants, their derived components, and various nanomedicinal approaches, a review of literature was deemed as necessary. In the present review, numerous phytochemicals and various feats in nanomedicine for the treatment of AD have been discussed mechanistically for the first time. Furthermore, recent trends in nanotechnology such as green synthesis of metal nanoparticles with reference to the treatment of AD have been elaborated. Foreseeing the recent progress, we hope that the interface of medicinal plants and nanotechnology will lead to highly effective theranostic strategies for the treatment of AD in the near future.

Histomorphological evaluations on the frontal cortex extrapyramidal cell layer following administration of N-Acetyl cysteine in aluminum induced neurodegeneration rat model

“…This study was done to demonstrate the in vivo neuroprotective effect of N-acetyl cysteine (NAC) by describing the interplay between aluminum-induced neurotoxicity, astrocytes neuro-inflammatory response, Nissl aggregation for protein/ neurotransmitter synthesis in neuron repair following Al 3+ toxicity AD model. AD is characterized by oxidative stress mediated generation of ROS Ovais et al 2018;Ciroma et al 2018) that leads to neuro fibrillary tangles formation, loss of neurites, reduced synaptic density, βamyloid protein aggregation and neuronal cell death in hippocampus and frontal cortex (Praveenkumar et al 2019).…”

“…There are drugs that clinically prove symptomatic relief for AD such as donepezil, rivastigmine, memantine, tacrine, and galanthamine (Bachurin et al 2017). Pathological reports show that AD is characterized by deposition beta-amyloid (Aβ) plaques, reactive oxygen species (ROS), reduction in acetylcholine (ACh), hyper-phosphorylated tau proteins and glutamatergic abnormalities Ovais et al 2018). Aluminum was detected in senile plaques and neurofibrillary tangle in brain tissue of AD patients (McLachlan et al 1996;Huang et al 1997) this formed the basis for it use in animal model to study the pathophysiology of AD (Walton 2013;Virk and Eslik 2015;Ahmad et al 2018;Chiroma et al 2018).…”

Benzoic Acid Derivatives of Ifloga spicata (Forssk.) Sch.Bip. as Potential Anti-Leishmanial against Leishmania tropica

“…Medicinal plants are playing a significant role in drug discovery and development against numerous disorders [40][41][42][43][44]. The main advantage of medicinal plants as a source of new drugs is the molecular diversity of secondary metabolites in these herbs [45,46].…”

Bacterial synthesis of nanoparticles: A green approach

“…In addition, the surface of nanomaterials, unlike natural enzymes, which have only one active site in a molecule, may have more catalytic centers (Liu et al, 2015;Gao et al, 2017). Nanoparticles that can be used in biology and medicine should have low toxicity, or complete absence of toxicity, high biocompatibility, ability to biodegrade or be excreted naturally (Kozik et al, 2016;Bityutskyy et al, 2017;Chekman et al, 2017;Ovais et al, 2018b;Stoller et al, 2018;Yadi et al, 2018;Bityutskyy et al, 2019).…”

“…Alternative ways of synthesis of nanoparticles have been established. The likely mechanism of nanoparticle biosynthesis may include more than one cellular component (Ovais et al, 2018b). It is believed that nitrate reductase acts as a principal reducing agent in the transformation of metals into nanoparticles (Gupta & Padmanabhan 2018;Ali et al, 2019).…”