Abstract
Neurodegenerative disorders, including Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and Huntington’s disease, present a major health issue and financial burden for health care systems around the world. The impact of these diseases will further increase over the next decades due to increasing life expectancies. No cure is currently available for the treatment of these conditions; only drugs, which merely alleviate the symptoms. Oxidative stress has long been associated with neurodegeneration, whether as a cause or as part of the downstream results caused by other factors. Thus, the use of antioxidants to counter cellular oxidative stress within the nervous system has been suggested as a potential treatment option for neurological disorders. Over the last decade, significant research has focused on the potential use of natural antioxidants to target oxidative stress. However, clinical trial results have lacked success for the treatment of patients with neurological disorders. The knowledge that natural extracts show other positive molecular activities in addition to antioxidant activity, however, has led to further research of natural extracts for their potential use as prevention or treatment/management of neurodegenerative diseases. This review will cover several in vitro and in vivo research studies, as well as clinical trials, and highlight the potential of natural antioxidants.
Highlights
This review aims to give an overview on the importance of oxidative stress and its relevance in neurodegenerative disease
Neurodegenerative disease is a heterogeneous group of disorders that are caused by the degradation and subsequent loss of neurons
G2019S mutation-transfected SK-N-SH and cortical neurons, for example, showed increased viability when treated with piceatannol, thymoquinone (quinone active metabolite in Nigella sativa and esculetin (coumarin found in bark of Cortex fraxini [71]) [68] Figure 7
Summary
This review aims to give an overview on the importance of oxidative stress and its relevance in neurodegenerative disease. One option for counteracting oxidative stress is the application of natural products obtained from plant extracts. These have been thoroughly tested in vitro (chemical antioxidant activity and cell systems) and in vivo (animal disease models) and have shown promising results. Results from clinical trial studies have been less successful. Recent research on natural extracts, and their potential pitfalls in clinical trials, are discussed
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