Abstract
Chronic neuroinflammation is a pathological condition of numerous central nervous system (CNS) diseases such as Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, multiple sclerosis, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and many others. Neuroinflammation is characterized by the microglia activation and concomitant production of pro-inflammatory cytokines leading to an increasing neuronal cell death. The decreased neuroinflammation could be obtained by using natural compounds, including flavonoids known to modulate the inflammatory responses. Among flavonoids, quercetin possess multiple pharmacological applications including anti-inflammatory, antitumoral, antiapoptotic and anti-thrombotic activities, widely demonstrated in both in vitro and in vivo studies. In this review, we describe the recent findings about the neuroprotective action of quercetin by acting with different mechanisms on the microglial cells of CNS. The ability of quercetin to influence microRNA expression represents an interesting skill in the regulation of inflammation, differentiation, proliferation, apoptosis and immune responses. Moreover, in order to enhance quercetin bioavailability and capacity to target the brain, we discuss an innovative drug delivery system. In summary, this review highlighted an important application of quercetin in the modulation of neuroinflammation and prevention of neurological disorders.
Highlights
The search for novel natural therapeutic agents to prevent or slow the progression of neurodegenerative diseases is gaining great attention
Human, and animal models have demonstrated that the strengthened antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anticancer and neuroprotective activities of quercetin can be achieved through targeting multiple signaling pathways and the downstream effectors gene expression involved in these processes [32]
The effects of quercetin are limited to microglial cells but involve astrocytes, important cells that generate neuroinflammation inducing neuronal damage by releasing inflammatory and neurotoxic factors, Sharma et al found that quercetin decrease the release of IL-6, IL-8, monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) and reactive oxygen species (ROS)
Summary
The search for novel natural therapeutic agents to prevent or slow the progression of neurodegenerative diseases is gaining great attention. Quercetin has been proven to possess various biological properties including its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory roles in many inflammatory, metabolic and neurodegenerative diseases [5]. This may ameliorate the overall health and contributes to diseases prevention [14]. A growing body of evidence has shown that quercetin has a broad therapeutic potential for the treatment and prevention of various diseases including cancer, cardiovascular and neurodegenerative diseases It is considered as neurohormetic phytochemical with potential neuroprotective effects associated with reduced levels of oxidative stress [2]. The biosafety assessment of the long-term use of high doses of quercetin in human requires further investigation
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