Journal of Pharmaceutical Research
DOI: 10.18579/jopcr/v25.i2.124
Year: 2026, Volume: 25, Issue: 2, Pages: 57-67
Review Article
Srushti A Oza1*, Lakshamana P Raghuwanshi1, Riteshkumar B Mahajan1, Vaishnavi S Patil2
1Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Modern College of Pharmacy, Nigdi, Pune-411044, Maharashtra, India
2Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Appasaheb Birnale College of Pharmacy, Sangali- 416416, Maharashtra, India
*Corresponding Author
Email: [email protected]
Alzheimer disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that involves the deterioration of cognition, loss of memory and behavioral abnormalities and it is a serious health problem in the world with no clear-cut cure. Existing pharmacological treatments are mainly symptomatic remedies that are associated with low effectiveness and undesirable outcomes, which conditions the increased attention given to the application of plant-based neurotherapeutics as additional treatment options. Medicinal systems have traditionally used a number of botanicals to stimulate memory and neuroprotection and some of these plants are currently under scientific review as to their applicability in Alzheimer disease. This is a review paper which focuses on the detailed evaluation of the traditional medicinal plants that are used in enhancing cognition, namely Clitoria ternatea, Bacopa monnieri, Withania somnifera, Ginkgo biloba and Centella asiatica. Phytochemical constituents, pharmacologic mechanism and reported neuroprotective effects of these plants are discussed as per preclinical and existing clinical evidence. Bacosides, withanolides, ginkgolides, flavonoids, and triterpenoid saponins are bioactive compounds which have proven to target oxidative stress, aggregation of β-amyloid, pathology of tau, cholinergic dysfunction and synaptic impairment, and are used in the treatment of AD which is characterized by multiple pathological hallmarkers. Although these results demonstrate the multi-target therapeutic potential of herbal compounds, much of the available evidence are preclinical with not many extensive randomized clinical trials. Safety evaluation, drug interaction with herb, standard of dosage, and phytochemical variability remain problematic to clinical translation. More researched studies are needed to determine the effectiveness, safety and protracted therapeutic applicability of these medicinal plants in the management of Alzheimer disease.
Keywords: Alzheimer’s disease, Neuroprotection, Cognitive enhancement, Plant-based therapeutics, Flavonoids, Alkaloids, Anti-amyloidogenic, Cholinesterase inhibition
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© 2026 Published by Krupanidhi College of Pharmacy. This is an open-access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)
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