Summary and Perspective

• Published in: Neuroprotective Effects of Phytochemicals in Neurological Disorders pp. 581 - 594
• Main Authors: Farooqui, Tahira, Farooqui, Akhlaq A
• Format: Book Chapter
• Language: English
• Published: United States John Wiley & Sons, Incorporated 2017; John Wiley & Sons, Inc
• Subjects: BIOLOGY, LIFE SCIENCES; cycloxygenases; kinases; lipoxygenases; neuroinflammation; oxidative stress; phytochemicals
• ISBN: 9781119155140; 1119155142
• DOI: 10.1002/9781119155195.ch29

Plants synthesize phytochemicals for protection against environmental stress and to repair wounds. Consumption of phytochemicals in the diet not only provides beneficial effects for normal aging in humans, but also retards or delays the onset of neurotraumatic and neurodegenerative diseases. Phytochemicals mediate their neuromodulatory effects in neural cells by interacting with a wide spectrum of molecular targets through signal‐transduction processes, which involves the activation of many enzymes (mitogen‐activated protein kinase (MAPK), protein kinase C (PKC), serine/threonine protein kinase Akt/PKB, and phase II antioxidant‐detoxifying enzymes) and inhibition of proinflammatory enzymes (cyclooxygenase 2 (COX‐2) and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS)), as well as regulation of calcium homeostasis, inhibition of nuclear factor kappa B (NF‐κB), and modulation of several cell‐survival/cell‐cycle genes. Phytochemicals are safe, multitargeted, and affordable. Although the molecular mechanisms underlying many of their beneficial effects have yet to be discovered, it is clear that they induce health benefits by inhibiting oxidative/inflammatory stress signaling, increasing neuroprotective signaling, and inducing neurohormetic effects to protect against oxidative stress and neuroinflammation. Converging evidence suggests that supplementation of diet with phytochemicals provides the most efficacious method for increasing healthy living and delaying the onset of age‐related chronic diseases. Most of the evidence on the beneficial effects of phytochemicals is epidemiological, preclinical, and based on animal models of chronic diseases, so clinical trials with human subjects are needed to strengthen the evidence base.