Autophagy Dysregulation in Alzheimer’s Disease: Plant Polyphenols as A Possible Preventive and Therapeutic Treatment.

The self-degradative process of autophagy plays a fundamental role in cellular, tissue, organismal homeostasis and in balancing sources of energy at critical times in development and in response to nutrient stress. Autophagy also plays a housekeeping role in removing misfolded or aggregated proteins, clearing dysfunctional organelles and intracellular pathogens. Autophagy is generally considered as a pro-survival mechanism although its deregulation has been linked to non-apoptotic cell death. Autophagy efficiency declines with age, with consequent accumulation of harmful protein aggregates and damaged mitochondria and increased oxidative stress.