Neuroprotective Natural Products for the Treatment of Parkinson's Disease by Targeting the Autophagy-Lysosome Pathway: A Systematic Review

Abstract

The autophagy-lysosome pathway (ALP) is a primary means by which damaged organelles and long-lived proteins are removed from cells and their components recycled. Impairment of the ALP has been found to be linked to the pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease (PD), a chronic neurodegenerative disorder characterized by the accumulation of protein aggregates and loss of dopaminergic neurons in the midbrain. In recent years, some active compounds derived from plants have been found to regulate the ALP and to exert neuroprotective effects in experimental models of PD, raising the possibility that autophagy enhancement may be an effective therapeutic strategy in PD treatment. In this review, we summarize recent findings of natural products that enhance ALP and thereby protect against PD. Research articles were retrieved from PubMed using relevant keywords in combination. Papers related to the topic were identified, and then the reliability of the experiments was assessed in terms of methodology. The results suggest that targeting the ALP with natural products is a promising strategy for PD treatment. However, risk of bias exists in some studies due to the defective methodology. Rigorous experimental design following the guidelines of autophagy assays, molecular target identification and in vivo efficacy evaluation is critical for the development of ALP enhancers for PD treatment in future studies.

Devil's claw (Harpagophytum procumbens) and chronic inflammatory diseases: A concise overview on preclinical and clinical data

“…One of the biological contributors to neurodegeneration and cognitive aging is chronic neuroinflammation. Accordingly, plant extracts with anti‐inflammatory properties have been extensively studied in relation to their potential use in treating cognitive decline (da Costa, Cavalcanti, de Queiroz, & de Azevedo, ; Kure, Timmer, & Stough, ; Meeusen & Decroix, ; Shal, Ding, Ali, Kim, & Khan, ; Wang et al, ). Bhattacharya and Bhattacharya () reported that 14‐day administration of devil's claw extract (100 and 200 mg/kg) stimulated, in a dose‐dependent manner, rat cortex superoxide dismutase, catalase, and glutathione peroxidase activities, with a concomitant reduction of tissue lipid peroxidation.…”

Rapamycin Alleviated the Symptoms of Fat Embolism Syndrome by Modulating Autophagy in a Rat Model

“…Documents reported that autophagy was wildly involved in variety of human diseases, such as cancer, inflammatory diseases, Parkinson disease, cardiovascular Disease, diabetes mellitus [42][43][44][45].…”

Autophagy as a protective mechanism in oxidative stress

“…Сегодня выявлены прямые взаимосвязи между мутациями в генах белков, запускающих митофагию (PINK1, Parkin, DJ-1), и наследственными нейродегенеративными заболеваниями [66,67]. Поýтому в последние годы идет активный поиск способов и средств регуляции аутофагии и митофагии [68][69][70]. В ýтом плане активно исследуются различные растительные продукты [70,71], изучаются ýффекты физических нагрузок и голодания [47,68,72], а также разрабатываются препараты с направленным на митохондрии действием [73].…”