Nutraceuticals: A strategy to mitigate neurotoxicity

Increased evidence from epidemiological research and pre-clinical studies have presented a correlation between exogenous neurotoxicants (such as aluminum, arsenic, lead, cadmium, mercury and ethanol) and various neurobiological disorders which contribute to cognitive impairments. The existing data demonstrate that nutraceutical supplementation affords neuroprotective effects against neurotoxicity. Nutraceuticals improved learning and memory impairments, anxiety and depressive-like behavior, locomotor activity and neuropathic pain. The most common molecular and cellular mechanisms in nutraceutical therapy include attenuation of oxidative stress (by suppressing lipid peroxidation and increasing antioxidant enzymes and contents), suppression of apoptosis (by increasing B-cell lymphoma 2 (Bcl2) expression, and reduction in Bcl-2-associated X protein (Bax), caspase-3 and cytochrome c expression), suppression of neuroinflammation (by inhibiting inflammatory cytokines), inhibition of amyloid β (Aβ) plaque and neurofibrillary tangles, and increased synaptic plasticity (by increasing Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), and regulating cholinergic and neurotransmitter systems.