The human brain is protected by the highly selective shield called the blood-brain barrier. While this keeps toxins out, it also makes the treatment of brain-related diseases very difficult since many drugs cannot pass through it. This paper highlights how natural products from plants might offer a solution to this problem, including fruits, vegetables, and herbs.
These natural products, such as flavonoids and terpenoids, were shown by researchers to trick the BBB and thus may help in brain diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. The authors investigate the “tricks” these compounds use in crossing the BBB, such as binding to certain transport proteins or diffusing naturally.
The paper further discusses how these compounds have shown great promise in diverse in vitro and in vivo studies as potential treatments for neurological disorders. This could open a new avenue toward the development of safer, natural-based medicines for the protection and healing of the brain.
In other words, nature may hold the key to treating brain diseases that were once thought of as nearly impossible to treat.
Full text: Ureña-Vacas Isabel, Aznar de la Riera M. Belén, Serrano Dolores R, González-Burgos Elena, A new frontier in neuropharmacology: Recent progress in natural products research for blood–brain barrier crossing, Current Research in Biotechnology, Volume 8, 2024, 100235, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.crbiot.2024.100235