Influence of Oxidative Stress and Inflammation on Nutritional Status and Neural Plasticity: New Perspectives on Post-Stroke Neurorehabilitative Outcome

Beyond brain deficits caused by strokes, the effectiveness of neurorehabilitation is strongly influenced by the baseline clinical features of stroke patients, including a patient’s current nutritional status. Malnutrition, either as a pre-stroke existing condition or occurring because of ischemic injury, predisposes patients to poor rehabilitation outcomes. On the other hand, a proper nutritional status compliant with the specific needs required by the process of brain recovery plays a key role in post-stroke rehabilitative outcome favoring neuroplasticity mechanisms. Oxidative stress and inflammation play a role in stroke-associated malnutrition, as well as in the cascade of ischemic events in the brain area, where ischemic damage leads to neuronal death and brain infarction, and, via cell-to-cell signaling, the alteration of neuroplasticity processes underlying functional recovery induced by multidisciplinary rehabilitative treatment. Nutrition strategies based on food components with oxidative and anti-inflammatory properties may help to reverse or stop malnutrition and may be a prerequisite for supporting the ability of neuronal plasticity to result in satisfactory rehabilitative outcome in stroke patients. To expand nutritional recommendations for functional rehabilitation recovery, studies considering the evolution of nutritional status changes in post-stroke patients over time are required. The assessment of nutritional status must be included as a routine tool in rehabilitation settings for the integrated care of stroke-patients.