Abstract
Orthosiphon stamineus (OS) or Orthosiphon aristatus var. aristatus (OAA) is commonly known as cat’s whiskers or “misai kucing”. It is an herbaceous shrub that is popular in many different traditional and complementary medicinal systems. Its popularity has been justified by the plethora of studies that have shown that the secondary metabolites of the plant has effects that range from anti-inflammatory and gastroprotective to anorexic and antihypertensive. As such, OS could also be a potential treatment for Central Nervous System (CNS) disorders. However, a cohesive synthesis of the protective actions of OS was lacking. This systematic review was therefore commenced to elaborate on the various protective mechanisms of OS in the CNS. The PRISMA model was used and five databases (Google Scholar, SCOPUS, SpringerLink, ScienceDirect, and PubMed) were searched with relevant keywords to finally identify four articles that met the inclusion criteria. The articles described the protective effects of OS extracts on Alzheimer’s disease, epilepsy, learning and memory, oxidative stress, and neurotoxicity. All the articles found were experimental or preclinical studies on animal models or in vitro systems. The reported activities demonstrated that OS could be a potential neuroprotective agent and might improve CNS conditions like neurodegeneration, neuroinflammation, and oxidative stress.
Highlights
Neuroprotection is a relatively new concept in neuroscience research, coined to incorporate a great variety of mechanisms that aim to prevent neuronal injury and loss of various brain functions with an ultimate goal to better preserve brain function (Schapira, 2010)
The synaptic dysfunction and memory impairment detected in AD (McGeer and McGeer, 2010; Gomes et al, 2011) are components commonly found in epilepsy (Wen et al, 2010; Holmes, 2015) and oxidative stress-induced neurological conditions (Aguiar et al, 2012; Ho et al, 2015; Chitnis and Weiner, 2017; Walker, 2018)
There exists an interplay between oxidative stress, neurodegeneration, and neuroinflammation
Summary
Neuroprotection is a relatively new concept in neuroscience research, coined to incorporate a great variety of mechanisms that aim to prevent neuronal injury and loss of various brain functions with an ultimate goal to better preserve brain function (Schapira, 2010). Neuroprotection is being explored as a possible treatment strategy for Central Nervous System (CNS) disorders such as neurodegeneration, stroke, or trauma that result in CNS injuries (Lalkovicǒ vá and Danielisová, 2016) These disorders may Neuroprotective Actions of Orthosiphon stamineus occur through a wide variety of mechanisms, some common themes include abnormal protein behavior, oxidative stress, mitochondrial dysfunction, neuroinflammation, excitotoxicity, and others (Jellinger, 2010). These varied mechanisms result in an varied array of disorders such as epilepsy, motor neuron disease, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, and Alzheimer’s disease (Vajda, 2004). There are several gaps in understanding the many issues related to neurological disorders, but we already know enough about their nature and treatment to be able to shape effective intervention responses to some of the most prevalent among them
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