Effect of natural exogenous antioxidants on aging and on neurodegenerative diseases

Abstract

Aging and neurodegenerative diseases share oxidative stress cell damage and depletion of endogenous antioxidants as mechanisms of injury, phenomena that are occurring at different rates in each process. Nevertheless, as the central nervous system (CNS) consists largely of lipids and has a poor catalase activity, a low amount of superoxide dismutase and is rich in iron, its cellular components are damaged easily by overproduction of free radicals in any of these physiological or pathological conditions. Thus, antioxidants are needed to prevent the formation and to oppose the free radicals damage to DNA, lipids, proteins, and other biomolecules. Due to endogenous antioxidant defenses are inadequate to prevent damage completely, different efforts have been undertaken in order to increase the use of natural antioxidants and to develop antioxidants that might ameliorate neural injury by oxidative stress. In this context, natural antioxidants like flavonoids (quercetin, curcumin, luteolin and catechins), magnolol and honokiol are showing to be the efficient inhibitors of the oxidative process and seem to be a better therapeutic option than the traditional ones (vitamins C and E, and β-carotene) in various models of aging and injury in vitro and in vivo conditions. Thus, the goal of the present review is to discuss the molecular basis, mechanisms of action, functions, and targets of flavonoids, magnolol, honokiol and traditional antioxidants with the aim of obtaining better results when they are prescribed on aging and neurodegenerative diseases.

Rutin, a flavonoid phytochemical, ameliorates certain behavioral and electrophysiological alterations and general toxicity of oral arsenic in rats

“…the documented antioxidant action of rutin explains the amelioration of as-induced neuro-functional damage seen in the present study, taking into consideration the ability of as to cause oxidative stress [16] on one hand, and the vulnerability of the nervous system as a whole to oxidative damage on the other, resulting from high intensity of mitochondrial energy production, abundance of (unsaturated) structural lipids, and to limited antioxidant capacity [12]. oxidative damage to membrane lipids may disturb the function of synapses and receptors [6], leading finally to functional alterations at higher levels (such as macro-electrophysiology and behavior).…”

High-dose ascorbic acid administration improves functional recovery in rats with spinal cord contusion injury

“…10,12,19 One of the vital functions of AA is to clear free radicals, therefore exerting protective effect in various injuries. 12 Therefore, AA has been used for the treatment of many diseases, such as cardiovascular, digestive, respiratory, musclar, immune dysfunction, urogenital and, importantly, neurological diseases.…”

“…10,12,19 One of the vital functions of AA is to clear free radicals, therefore exerting protective effect in various injuries. 12 Therefore, AA has been used for the treatment of many diseases, such as cardiovascular, digestive, respiratory, musclar, immune dysfunction, urogenital and, importantly, neurological diseases. 10,20 In fact, the effect of normaldose AA on SCI was previously investigated, and demonstrated that AA can alleviate the histological features of tissue injury, although it did not show significant effect on the behavioral function of the injured animals.…”

“…11 Among these antioxidants agents, AA is of particular interest because of its critical function in a wide range of physiological processes. 12 Several studies have investigated the therapeutic effect of AA administration on rat SCI models. 9 A recent study suggested that AA did not improve neurological performance in the rat SCI model, but decreased the inflammatory response observed by histopathological examination.…”

PEA and luteolin synergistically reduce mast cell-mediated toxicity and elicit neuroprotection in cell-based models of brain ischemia

“…Luteolin and its congeners exhibit anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, neuroprotective and anti-carcinogenic activities (Dajas et al, 2003;Guerra-Araiza et al, 2013) and have been reported to have a potential for the treatment of autism , multiple sclerosis (Theoharides, 2009), cancer (Attoub et al, 2011) and stroke (Qiao et al, 2012;Qiao et al, 2014;Zhao et al, 2011).…”