Abstract
Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the leading cause of dementia and cognitive function impairment. The multi-faced character of AD requires new drug solutions based on substances that incorporate a wide range of activities. Antioxidants, AChE/BChE inhibitors, BACE1, or anti-amyloid platelet aggregation substances are most desirable because they improve cognition with minimal side effects. Plant secondary metabolites, used in traditional medicine and pharmacy, are promising. Among these are the monoterpenes—low-molecular compounds with anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, enzyme inhibitory, analgesic, sedative, as well as other biological properties. The presented review focuses on the pathophysiology of AD and a selected group of anti-neurodegenerative monoterpenes and monoterpenoids for which possible mechanisms of action have been explained. The main body of the article focuses on monoterpenes that have shown improved memory and learning, anxiolytic and sleep-regulating effects as determined by in vitro and in silico tests—followed by validation in in vivo models.
Highlights
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The first, e.g., misplacing items or forgetting recent conversations, are hard to identify [1]. Acknowledgement of this fact can be considered a key moment in diagnosis that had influence on treatment success, as the mysterious attributes of the disease brought about attention to the molecular basis of it, with the result being new treatment regimes and improvement in the currently available drugs
Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disorder characterized by two important neuropathological features: extracellular senile plaques—which are mainly composed of β-amyloid (Aβ) deposits, and intracellular neurofibrillary tangles (NFT)—consisting of bundles of paired helical filaments (PHF), the main component of which is a pathologically hyperphosphorylated tau protein [10]
Summary
“Aging and death do seem to be what Nature has planned for us. But what if we have other plans?”—Bernard Strehler. Many plant-derived active substances are in current use as pharmaceuticals. The monoterpenes are a terpene subgroup and are isoprene derivatives responsible for the aromatic character of plants. These secondary metabolites are synthesized in response to biotic and abiotic stress. Low molecular isoprenoids are mostly ubiquitous in plants that have evolved to survive in stressful conditions (e.g., exposure to high doses of UV radiation) [7] Such substances have been identified in various plants families (e.g., Lamiaceae), including the citrus species. The presented review will focus on the effects of selected monoterpenes and essential oils activities against AD factors and symptoms in in vitro, in silico, and mouse/rat models
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