Oxidative stress distorts the mitochondrial function and triggers deleterious
effects in the cardiovascular system. Further, oxidative stress-induced overproduction
of highly reactive oxygen/nitrogen species (RONS) is amplified in patients exposed to
radiation, excessive consumption of alcohol and tobacco, environmental pollutants,
exposure to agrochemicals like fertilizers, pesticides or endocrine disrupters. In modern
times, oxidative stress-induced cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) have escalated
globally. Synthetic medicines prescribed for the amelioration of CVDs are expensive
and can cause life-time dependency in some patients, thus escalating the treatment cost.
Sometimes, long-term use of synthetic medicines or drug polytherapy for co-morbid
conditions can cause undesirable side-effects. Quite often, these therapeutic strategies
do not succeed in attenuating the oxidative stress related CVDs. Therefore, researchers
are exploring alternative and cost-effective phytobioactive therapies which have strong
antioxidant and anti-inflammation properties, and can act as scavengers of RONS.
Phytobioactive compounds, nutraceuticals and probiotics prepared from plant/animal
origin are potential therapeutic substances for the promotion of health and well-being.
Several plant-derived phytotherapies have demonstrated strong antioxidant, antiinflammatory,
cardio-protective effects, inhibition of ischemic injury as well as
alleviation in the pathological cardiac biomarkers and cardiac apoptotic proteins. In this
review, we have described the therapeutic functions of various phytobioactive
compounds and their purported mechanism of action at the genetic, epigenetic, cellular
and molecular level with respect to their antioxidant and anti-inflammatory actions for
the prevention and treatment of cardiovascular disorders.
Keywords: Anti-inflammation, Antioxidants, Cardiovascular diseases,
Myocardial infarction, Nutraceuticals, Oxidative stress, Phytobioactive
compounds, Probiotics.
