*Review* **Natural Compounds for the Prevention and Treatment of Cardiovascular and Neurodegenerative Diseases**

**Rosalba Leuci †, Leonardo Brunetti †, Viviana Poliseno, Antonio Laghezza, Fulvio Loiodice, Paolo Tortorella and Luca Piemontese \***

> Dipartimento di Farmacia-Scienze del Farmaco-University of Bari "Aldo Moro", Via E. Orabona 4, 70125 Bari, Italy; r.leuci6@studenti.uniba.it (R.L.); leonardo.brunetti@uniba.it (L.B.); v.poliseno1@studenti.uniba.it (V.P.); antonio.laghezza@uniba.it (A.L.); fulvio.loiodice@uniba.it (F.L.); paolo.tortorella@uniba.it (P.T.)

**\*** Correspondence: luca.piemontese@uniba.it

† The two authors contributed equally to this work.

**Abstract:** Secondary metabolites from plants and fungi are stimulating growing interest in consumers and, consequently, in the food and supplement industries. The beneficial effects of these natural compounds are being thoroughly studied and there are frequent updates about the biological activities of old and new molecules isolated from plants and fungi. In this article, we present a review of the most recent literature regarding the recent discovery of secondary metabolites through isolation and structural elucidation, as well as the in vitro and/or in vivo evaluation of their biological effects. In particular, the possibility of using these bioactive molecules in the prevention and/or treatment of widely spread pathologies such as cardiovascular and neurodegenerative diseases is discussed.

**Keywords:** secondary metabolites; plants; fungi; food supplements; cardiovascular diseases; neurodegenerative diseases; Alzheimer's disease; metabolic syndrome
