Mechanistic Role of Phytophenolic Acids in the Management of Alzheimer’s Disease: A Comprehensive Review

Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) or dementia, is a brain illness, which is chronic and non-reversible and is related to advanced memory loss, cognitive decline and altered behaviour. Current treatments including synthetic agents mostly have an effect of only providing relief to the patient without treating the root cause of disease. Though synthetic drugs available for the treatment but are only few and are associated side effects. A better alternate will be the traditionally used herbal drugs in the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases. Phenolic acids are secondary metabolites in plants and current evidence indicates that they can be useful in the treatment of AD because of their antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective. The present review explores the multifaceted functions of phenolic acid which include neutralizing Reacting Oxygen Species (ROS), preventing amyloid-beta aggregation, reducing hyperphosphorylation of tau protein and modulating neuro-inflammation. Several phenolic acids such as gallic acid, ellagic acid, caffeic acid, ferulic acid, coumaric acid, etc. Have demonstrated significant neuroprotective effects in various preclinical studies. The mode of action phenolic acids can be identified to produce better and more attuned treatments. Similarly, the synergistic effect exerted by phenolic acid when combined with other medical agents will enhance the potential efficacy of other drugs. In conclusion, the present review is an attempt at extensive and elaborated information regarding phytophenolic acids, with significant promise in fighting AD based on their antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective properties as a multi-faceted approach to the complex pathology in AD.