Alchemica Posted February 16, 2018 (edited) I did some injury to my head and was looking for good brain repair strategies, one of the main reasons I was exploring so many plants and had mood/reality issues. There were severe cognitive problems in a neuropsychological assessment, potentially a white matter thing. A planty diet, things I've mentioned before, high polyphenol intake - varied and diverse, keeping things anti-inflammatory etc seems to have helped. Some of the polyphenols act through BDNF which is beneficial. These days simply keeping polyphenols high through diet and cognitive remediation, lots of novelty, exercise giving myself cognitive goal-directed tasks etc etc seems to help. When it comes to a CNS injury, in my opinion, one of the most critical things to do is feed super quality nutrition, not add more insult to injury which I did for quite awhile, while aiming to resolve background inflammation, microglial activation and oxidative stress. Glutathione and redox regulation have a critical role in myelination processes and white matter maturation. Using polyphenols and quality nutrition seems to be a really good brain repair strategy, not just through BDNF but also for other brain issues. Anything that strongly reduces inflammation generally helps promote subsequent myelination in the white matter.Something as simple as a mixture of anthocyanins and phenolics promotes myelination in a rodent in vitro model Polyphenols: I use quite a bit of cacao which has dose-dependent beneficial effects on cognition. Anthocyanins, hibiscus and blueberry really helped. Cinnamon (I find the bark better than sodium benzoate) etc. Polyphenols display the ability to reverse adverse epigenetic regulation involved in many pathological conditions. Some have strong epigenetic effects, many have been proven to modulate gene expression by targeting DNA methyltransferases (DNMTs) Reciprocally, dietary polyphenols can act as prebiotics, addressing the brain-gut axis. Recently, it has also been described that they modulate the circadian rhythm. Biochemical and epigenetic mechanisms, including the modulation of microRNAs, allow these compounds to modulate cell functionality and things like metabolism MicroRNAs (miRNAs) act as endogenous fine-tuners and on-off switches of gene expression. Several lines of evidence now suggest that miRNAs are involved in the pathogenesis of many diseases, including neuropsychiatric disorders. As such, miRNAs offer great hope for therapeutic targets. Many flavonoids exert antioxidant activity through epigenetic regulation operated by miRNAs, while anti-inflammatory activity is regulated by other miRNAs and/or mechanisms. Blueberry anthocyanins cause modulation of miRNAs and upregulation of neurotrophins like BDNF. The antidepressant properties of ones like hesperidin likely also involve miRNAs Rather than simply agonise etc, they often restore better health - for example green tea polyphenols up-regulate expression of the GABAA receptor subunits, thus ameliorating depression. Citrus flavonoids: Hesperidin, a flavanone glycoside found abundantly in citrus fruits possesses a wide range of pharmacological properties including anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer effects. it significantly attenuated the altered levels of oxidative stress and neurotoxicity biomarkers. It has antidepressant properties via its anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory activities, the enhancement of neurogenesis (chronic treatment with low dose hesperidin resulted in an increase in hippocampal brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) levels), and changes in the levels of monoamines in the brain. It also has therapeutic effects on improving mood via attenuating hyperglycemia. It has significant anti-adipogenic effect and delipidating effects, modulated the inflammatory response and antioxidant status. Hesperidin inhibits obesity, hyperglycemia and attenuates insulin resistance. It also reduced atherosclerosis via its pleiotropic effects. It ameliorates hyperhomocysteinemia, has significant therapeutic effects on cognitive impairment. It has sedative action. It might be a potential candidate for the treatment of AD or even other neurodegenerative diseases. Results demonstrated that hesperidin could reduce the incidence and severity of MS in an animal model. Likewise it is protective for Parkinson's. It has a known neuroprotective effect and synaptogenic action on the central nervous system (CNS), partially mediated through astrocytes. It was able to improve memory in healthy adult mice by two main mechanisms: directly, by inducing synapse formation and function between hippocampal and cortical neurons; and indirectly, by enhancing the synaptogenic ability of cortical astrocytes Citrus peel, super cheap, is a seemingly good therapeutic health tonic. Low-cost powdered lemon (and other citrus fruit) peel contains only 1% to 2% flavonoids but standardised options are available. The typical dosage of citrus peel is 3-10 grams. I've used the extracts but wanted to get back to nature. Dried citrus peel derived from Citrus possesses a complex mixture of polyphenols, vitamins, minerals, dietary fibres, essential oils and carotenoids and has a history of traditional use to treat a variety of disorders. Citrus flavonoids are effective in vivo agents able to modulate hepatic lipid metabolism, to prevent and modulate inflammatory processes, effective antioxidant agents, also having anti-genotoxic effects. There is a growing acceptance that phenols, amino acids, essential oils, pectin, carotenoids, flavonoids, and vitamin C present in citrus fruits exert beneficial effects in the prevention of degenerative diseases The citrus flavonoids include a class of glycosides, namely, hesperidin and naringin and another class of O-methylatedaglycones of flavones such as nobiletin and tangeretin, which are relatively two common polymethoxylated flavones (PMFs). In citrus fruits, peels are reported to possess highest amounts of PMFs compared to other edible parts of the fruit. The citrus flavonoids have been found to have a health-related property, which include anticancer, antiviral and antiinflammatory activities, reduce capillary fragility, and restricts human platelet aggregation They increased serum antioxidant capacity against lipid peroxidation and reduced the elderly oxidative stress. These compounds possess the beneficial effects of anti-inflammation, antitumor, and antiatherosclerosis . Three types of flavonoids generally occur in citrus fruits: flavanones, flavones and flavonols. HPLC analyses of nine flavedo extracts showed that the flavanone glycoside hesperidin is found to be present in highest concentrations (83–234 mg/g FW) in all the extracts The main flavonoid hesperidin is strongly neuroprotective and has synaptogenic action on the central nervous system (CNS). It has sedative and sleep-enhancing properties These natural compounds possessed neuroprotective ability and resulted suppression of activated microglia-mediated neuroinflammation. Inhibiting microglial activation-mediated neuroinflammation has become a convincing target for the development of functional foods to treat neurodegenerative diseases. These increase BDNF and aid memory. These compounds have strong neuroprotective effects on the central nervous system. HMF, a citrus flavonoid, altered NMDA-type glutamate receptor antagonist MK-801-induced memory dysfunction and schizophrenia-positive symptom-like behavior. HMF also showed a protective effect against ischemia-induced short-term memory dysfunction. In the ischemic brain, HMF induced the following protective effects against brain dysfunction: 1) rescue of neuronal cell death in the hippocampus; 2) increased production of brain-derived neurotrophic factor; 3) stimulation of neurogenesis in the dentate gyrus subgranular zone; 4) activation of the autophosphorylation of calcium-calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II; and 5) suppression of microglial activation. On the other hand, AUR, a citrus coumarin, ameliorated lipopolysaccharide-induced inflammation in the brain as shown by inhibition of microglial activation and inhibition of cyclooxygenase (COX)-2 expression in the hippocampus. AUR also showed antiinflammatory effects on the ischemic brain by inhibiting microglial activation, COX-2 expression, and neuronal cell death in the hippocampus. Nobiletin and tangeretin are important citrus flavonoids derived from the peel and other parts of Citrus L. genus, and have been shown to exhibit neuroprotective effects in several in vitro and in vivo studies. Apart from there antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects, nobiletin and tangeretin have been shown to attenuate cholinergic deficits, reduce the abnormal accumulation of neurotoxic amyloid-beta peptides, reverse N-methyl- D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor hypofunction, ameliorate ischemic injury, inhibit hyperphosphorylation of tau protein, enhance neprilysin levels, modulate several signaling cascades, and protect against 1-methyl-4-phenylpyridinium (MPP(+)) and 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) toxicity. Nobiletin is able to improve impaired memory may become a potential leading compound for drug development for neurodegenerative disorders Upping things like flavonoids like quercetin could remarkably improve both cognition performance and myelination in the context of induced brain injury by promoting the proliferation of oligodendrocyte progenitor cells and strengthening survival of oligodendrocytes in vivo Spirulina: Intriguing once again is spirulina, this is being pre-clinically studied for multiple conditions such as MS. It is not only anti-oxidative, neuroprotective etc but also modulated the expression of genes related to remyelination, gliogenesis and axon-glia processes. Also re-jigs the damaged dopaminergic systems, helps tame microglial activation, oxidative stress etc in one study. Diosgenin: Diosgenin is also really promising, diosgenin can promote oligodendrocyte progenitor cell differentiation and accelerate remyelination. It dose-dependently reduced central nervous system inflammation and demyelination. We also found that diosgenin treatment can significantly inhibit the activation of microglia and promote remyelination. Diosgenin-rich yam extract treatment appeared to safely enhance cognitive function in healthy adults. It has been reported that diosgenin, a plant-derived steroidal sapogenin, improved memory and reduced axonal degeneration in an Alzheimer's disease mouse model. Diosgenin directly activated the membrane-associated rapid response steroid-binding receptor (1,25D3-MARRS) in neurons. However, 1,25D3-MARRS-mediated diosgenin signaling was only shown in vitro in the previous study. Here, we aimed to obtain in vivo evidence showing that diosgenin signaling is mediated by 1,25D3-MARRS in the mouse brain. Diosgenin treatment in normal mice enhanced object recognition memory and spike firing and cross-correlation in the medial prefrontal cortex and hippocampal CA1. In diosgenin-treated mice, axonal density and c-Fos expression was increased in the medial prefrontal and perirhinal cortices, suggesting that neuronal network activation may be enhanced. The diosgenin-induced memory enhancement and axonal growth were completely inhibited by co-treatment with a neutralizing antibody for 1,25D3-MARRS. Our in vivo data indicate that diosgenin is a memory-enhancing drug and that enhancement by diosgenin is mediated by 1,25D3-MARRS-triggered axonal growth. https://www.nature.com/articles/srep03395 It's also beneficial for metabolic dysfunction: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26408789 Findings from our preclinical studies suggest that diosgenin could strengthen cognitive function in healthy humans and possibly AD patients. Furthermore, recent subjects have focused on several compounds derived from natural medicinal components, such as Gingko biloba extract and docosahexaenoic acid, as cognitive enhancers. However, only diosgenin has been found to promote neurite growth and reinforce neuronal networks. Diosgenin, therefore, may represent a new category of cognitive enhancer with the essential ability to support morphological and functional neuronal network reinforcement. Various effects of diosgenin, including anti-cancer, anti-cardiovascular disease, anti-hyperlipidemia, anti-type 2 diabetes, and neuroprotective effects, have been investigated in both animal studies and in vitro studies. However, studies have yet to report clinical evidence of the effects of diosgenin. In the present study, an orally administered diosgenin-rich yam extract was found to induce cognitive changes in healthy adults (20–81 years) according to the RBANS test outcomes. Interestingly, elder subjects (more than 47 years) showed significant positive effects of diosgenin-rich yam extract in RBANS total score. This study is the first to demonstrate the beneficial effects of a diosgenin-containing extract on cognitive functions in humans. The RBANS test was established and standardized carefully and provides a sensitive measure of changes in cognitive functions across a wide range of ages and populations. Among the RBANS subtests, we found that the diosgenin-rich yam extract especially enhanced semantic fluency within the language index Edited February 16, 2018 by Alchemica 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
