The Action of Polyphenols in Diabetes Mellitus and Alzheimer's Disease: A Common Agent for Overlapping Pathologies

摘要

Diabetes Mellitus (DM) and Alzheimer's disease (AD) are two prevalent diseases inmodern societies, which are caused mainly by current lifestyle, aging and genetic alterations. It hasalready been demonstrated that these two diseases are associated, since individuals suffering fromDM are prone to develop AD. Conversely, it is also known that individuals with AD are more sus-ceptible to DM, namely type 2 diabetes (T2DM). Therefore, these two pathologies, although com-pletely different in terms of symptomatology, end up sharing several mechanisms at the molecularlevel, with the most obvious being the increase of oxidative stress and inflammation.Polyphenols are natural compounds widely spread in fruits and vegetables whose dietary intake hasbeen considered inversely proportional to the incidence of DM and AD. So, it is believed that thisgroup of phytochemicals may have preventive and therapeutic potential, not only by reducing therisk and delaying the development of these pathologies, but also by improving brain’s metabolicprofile and cognitive function.The aim of this review is to understand the extent to which DM and AD are related pathologies, thedegree of similarity and the relationship between them, to detail the molecular mechanisms bywhich polyphenols may exert a protective effect, such as antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects,and highlight possible advantages of their use as common preventive and therapeutic alternatives.