Psychiatric Disorders and Polyphenols: Can They Be Helpful in Therapy?

摘要

The prevalence of psychiatric disorders permanently increases. Polyphenolic compounds can be involved in modulation of mental health including brain plasticity, behaviour, mood, depression, and cognition. In addition to their antioxidant ability other biomodulating properties have been observed. In the pathogenesis of depression disturbance in neurotransmitters, increased inflammatory processes, defects in neurogenesis and synaptic plasticity, mitochondrial dysfunction, and redox imbalance are observed.Ginkgo biloba, green tea, andQuercus roburextracts and curcumin can affect neuronal system in depressive patients. ADHD patients treated with antipsychotic drugs, especially stimulants, report significant adverse effects; therefore, an alternative treatment is searched for. An extract fromGinkgo bilobaand fromPinus pinasterbark, Pycnogenol, could become promising complementary supplements in ADHD treatment. Schizophrenia is a devastating mental disorder, with oxidative stress involved in its pathophysiology. The direct interference of polyphenols with schizophrenia pathophysiology has not been reported yet. However, increased oxidative stress caused by haloperidol was inhibitedex vivoby different polyphenols. Curcumin, extract from green tea and fromGinkgo biloba,may have benefits on serious side effects associated with administration of neuroleptics to patients suffering from schizophrenia. Polyphenols in the diet have the potential to become medicaments in the field of mental health after a thorough study of their mechanism of action.