One of the major challenges of medical sciences has been finding a reliable compound for the pharmacological treatment of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). As most of the drugs directed to a variety of targets have failed in finding a medical solution, natural products from Ayurvedic medicine or nutraceutical compounds emerge as a viable preventive therapeutics’ pathway. Considering that AD is a multifactorial disease, nutraceutical compounds offer the advantage of a multitarget approach, tagging different molecular sites in the human brain, as compared with the single-target activity of most of the drugs used for AD treatment. We review in-depth important medicinal plants that have been already investigated for therapeutic uses against AD, focusing on a diversity of pharmacological actions. These targets include inhibition of acetylcholinesterase, β-amyloid senile plaques, oxidation products, inflammatory pathways, specific brain receptors, etc., and pharmacological actions so diverse as anti-inflammatory, memory enhancement, nootropic effects, glutamate excitotoxicity, anti-depressants, and antioxidants. In addition, we also discuss the activity of nutraceutical compounds and phytopharmaceuticals formulae, mainly directed to tau protein aggregates mechanisms of action. These include compounds such as curcumin, resveratrol, epigallocatechin-3-gallate, morin, delphinidins, quercetin, luteolin, oleocanthal, and meganatural-az and other phytochemicals such as huperzine A, limonoids, azaphilones, and aged garlic extract. Finally, we revise the nutraceutical formulae BrainUp-10 composed of Andean shilajit and B-complex vitamins, with memory enhancement activity and the control of neuropsychiatric distress in AD patients. This integrated view on nutraceutical opens a new pathway for future investigations and clinical trials that are likely to render some results based on medical evidence.

中文翻译：

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营养保健品和植物化学物质在预防和治疗阿尔茨海默病中的新作用。

医学科学的主要挑战之一是寻找一种可靠的化合物来治疗阿尔茨海默病 (AD)。由于大多数针对各种目标的药物未能找到医学解决方案，因此来自阿育吠陀医学的天然产物或营养药物化合物成为可行的预防性治疗途径。考虑到 AD 是一种多因素疾病，与大多数用于 AD 治疗的药物的单靶点活性相比，营养药物化合物具有多靶点方法的优势，可标记人脑中的不同分子位点。我们深入回顾了已经被研究用于治疗 AD 的重要药用植物，重点关注药理作用的多样性。这些目标包括抑制乙​​酰胆碱酯酶，β-淀粉样蛋白老年斑、氧化产物、炎症通路、特定脑受体等，以及多种药理作用，如抗炎、增强记忆力、促智作用、谷氨酸兴奋性毒性、抗抑郁药和抗氧化剂。此外，我们还讨论了营养药物化合物和植物药物配方的活性，主要针对 tau 蛋白聚集体的作用机制。这些包括化合物，如姜黄素、白藜芦醇、表没食子儿茶素-3-没食子酸酯、桑椹素、飞燕草素、槲皮素、木犀草素、油橄榄和超天然-az 和其他植物化学物质，如石杉碱 A、柠檬苦素、氮杂菲酮和陈年大蒜提取物。最后，我们修改了由 Andean shilajit 和 B 复合维生素组成的营养配方 BrainUp-10，具有记忆增强活性和控制 AD 患者的神经精神困扰。这种对营养保健品的综合观点为未来的调查和临床试验开辟了一条新途径，这些试验和临床试验可能会根据医学证据得出一些结果。