ABSTRACT:
Neurological disorders such as Alzheimer’s Disease (AD), Parkinsons’s Disease (PD) and Cerebral Ischemic Stroke (CIS) are responsible for morbidities in almost a billion people and it is rising with increase in older population. AD is responsible for most dementia cases reported worldwide and is marked by the loss of memory and aggregation of Amyloid beta peptide (AßP) and Neurofibrillary tangle (NFT). Oxidative stress, apoptosis are few of the factors that influence the pathophysiology. PD is characterized by genetic abnormalities, mitochondrial dysfunction, oxidative stress, excitotoxicity, calcium and iron overload and neuroinflammation and manifests as rigidity and bradykinesia. CIS is caused by reduced cerebral blood flow and impaired metabolic processes. The generation of free radicals and elevation of Ca2+ levels along with inflammatory cytokines, carries out the process. The use of plants for various disease condition is as old as history. The recent advancements in scientific drug development has hastened the discovery process and has opened doors to new discoveries having potential in treatment of neurological disorders such as AD, PD and CIS. These investigations has resulted in discovery of plants and plant extracts with potential neuroprotective effects. However, these discoveries require further validation and scientific proofs to be applied in clinical scenario. Interestingly, these plant based treatments can be co-administered with existing drugs or can be even used as monotherapy, depending on the advancements in this field.