Protective effects of anthocyanins on neurodegenerative diseases

The neurodegenerative disease is a vital threat to the elders, the incidence is increasing but the efficient therapy is rare. A feasible strategy to treat neurodegenerative diseases is dietary prevention. Among them, anthocyanins are a group of phytochemicals that have shown rising evidences of ameliorating neurodegenerative disease. This review summarized the neuroprotective effect of anthocyanins in vitro and in vivo and discussed the related pathways. Anthocyanins alleviated neurological dysfunction such as cognitive and memory functions via the protection of neurons, glial cells and hippocampal nerve cells against the damage of Aβ-proteins, glutamate, and lipopolysaccharides. In addition, anthocyanins reduced oxidative stress, suppressed inflammation, inhibited apoptosis in nerve cells. The neuroprotection of anthocyanin is also related to the intestinal metabolites. The human study is inadequate but the accumulated evidences indicated that anthocyanins could be the potential dietary supplement to prevent against neurodegenerative diseases.