EXPERIMENTAL INSIGHTS INTO NEUROPROTECTIVE AND CARDIOPROTECTIVE MECHANISMS OF HERBAL BIOACTIVE COMPOUNDS
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.29121/jahim.v6.i1.2026.87Keywords:
Neuroprotection, Cardioprotection, Bioactive Compounds, Oxidative Stress, Phytochemicals, Ischemia-ReperfusionAbstract [English]
Neurological and cardiovascular disorders are among the foremost contributors to worldwide morbidity and mortality through their shared disease mechanisms which include oxidative stress and chronic inflammation and apoptosis. Recent studies show that herbal bioactive compounds which include polyphenols and flavonoids and alkaloids have become important research subjects because their chemical properties enable them to target multiple biological pathways while causing minimal adverse effects. This study systematically examines the scientific data which supports the neuroprotective and cardioprotective functions of major phytochemicals including curcumin and resveratrol and quercetin and epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG). The chemicals achieve their primary neuroprotective effects in the central nervous system through three different mechanisms which include Nrf2/HO-1 pathway activation and NF-κB microglial activation control and Bax/Bcl-2 ratio maintenance to protect neurotransmitter from death. The cardioprotective effects of these compounds occur because they increase endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) activity and activate the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway and decrease ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury. The article presents evidence that cardiac and cerebral diseases interact with each other because herbal substances with multiple effects provide dual protective functions. The presence of insufficient bioavailability together with rapid metabolism results in clinical obstacles which prevent operational use of bioactives despite their strong preclinical evidence. The use of advanced drug delivery technologies which include lipid-based nanoparticles serves as the necessary method to enhance their therapeutic effectiveness. The research demonstrates that extensive clinical studies at a larger scale are required to validate the experimental models which show cardioprotective and neuroprotective effects.
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