Brain, Performance and Nutrition Research Centre, School of Life Sciences, Northumbria University, Newcastle, UK.
Adv Nutr. 2011 Jan;2(1):32-50. doi: 10.3945/an.110.000117. Epub 2011 Jan 10.
Humans consume a wide range of foods, drugs, and dietary supplements that are derived from plants and which modify the functioning of the central nervous sytem (CNS). The psychoactive properties of these substances are attributable to the presence of plant secondary metabolites, chemicals that are not required for the immediate survival of the plant but which are synthesized to increase the fitness of the plant to survive by allowing it to interact with its environment, including pathogens and herbivorous and symbiotic insects. In many cases, the effects of these phytochemicals on the human CNS might be linked either to their ecological roles in the life of the plant or to molecular and biochemical similarities in the biology of plants and higher animals. This review assesses the current evidence for the efficacy of a range of readily available plant-based extracts and chemicals that may improve brain function and which have attracted sufficient research in this regard to reach a conclusion as to their potential effectiveness as nootropics. Many of these candidate phytochemicals/extracts can be grouped by the chemical nature of their potentially active secondary metabolite constituents into alkaloids (caffeine, nicotine), terpenes (ginkgo, ginseng, valerian, Melissa officinalis, sage), and phenolic compounds (curcumin, resveratrol, epigallocatechin-3-gallate, Hypericum perforatum, soy isoflavones). They are discussed in terms of how an increased understanding of the relationship between their ecological roles and CNS effects might further the field of natural, phytochemical drug discovery.
人类食用的食物、药物和膳食补充剂范围广泛，它们源自植物，能改变中枢神经系统（CNS）的功能。这些物质的精神活性特性归因于植物次生代谢物的存在，这些化学物质对植物的即时生存并非必需，但它们是为了提高植物的适应性而合成的，使植物能够与其环境相互作用，包括病原体、草食性和共生昆虫。在许多情况下，这些植物化学物质对人类 CNS 的影响可能与其在植物生命中的生态作用有关，或者与植物和高等动物生物学中的分子和生化相似性有关。本综述评估了一系列现成的植物提取物和化学物质的功效的现有证据，这些物质可能改善大脑功能，并在这方面进行了足够的研究，以得出它们作为益智药的潜在有效性的结论。许多这些候选植物化学物质/提取物可以根据其潜在活性次生代谢物成分的化学性质分为生物碱（咖啡因、尼古丁）、萜烯（银杏、人参、缬草根、药用迷迭香、鼠尾草）和酚类化合物（姜黄素、白藜芦醇、表没食子儿茶素-3-没食子酸酯、贯叶金丝桃、大豆异黄酮）。本文讨论了如何增加对它们的生态作用和 CNS 效应之间关系的理解，从而进一步推动天然植物化学药物发现领域的发展。
