Neuroprotection by Drugs, Nutraceuticals and Physical Activity

Dear Colleagues,

Acute and chronic neurodegenerative diseases, such as stroke, brain trauma, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Huntington's disease, Parkinson's disease, and Alzheimer's disease are associated with high morbidity and mortality rates. A characteristic of these neurodegenerative diseases is selective neuronal dysfunction and death. The symptoms and the exacerbations of these diseases are, however, very different according to their specific pathways of neuronal impairment. Several mechanisms can lead to neuronal dysfunction and death, including calcium overload, excitatory amino acid release, oxidative stress, inflammation and microglial activation, protein misfolding, proteostasis and mitochondrial disfunction. The clinical management of these diseases is currently very critical as therapeutic strategies are often limited to relieving symptoms rather than treating the disease. Hence, the development of neuroprotective strategies to prevent or delay the neuronal impairment is at the epicenter of the current 21st-century research agenda in biomedicine. The scientific community, in addition to focusing on the development of effective new neuroprotective drugs, is also exploring non-pharmacological approaches by food components, such as nutraceuticals, and physical activity. In this regard, several studies show that nutraceuticals and physical activity have similar or complementary neuroprotection mechanisms, suggesting new integrated approaches with the pharmacological interventions to enhance neuroprotective effects. We invite you to submit your research findings to this Topic, which has the aim to present the updated state-of-the-art research on the potential mechanisms of neuroprotection at pre-clinical and clinical level mediated by drugs, nutraceuticals and physical activity. Original research articles, review articles, clinical trials, and meta-analyses are welcome.

Dr. Cristina Angeloni
Prof. Dr. Andrea Tarozzi
Topic Editors