Phytotherapy in treatment of Parkinson’s disease: a review

Abstract

Context : Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disorder due to gradual loss of dopaminergic nerves in the substantia nigra (SN) in the midbrain. PD leads to certain motor disorders including resting tremor, muscle stiffness and slow movement. Medicinal plants have shown positive pharmacological effects in treating different models of PD. Objective: Tendency to use natural products, especially plants, for the treatment of PD has been growing. This article reviews the basic aspects of medicinal plants and their bioactive compounds that could be used to treat PD. Methods: Reliable articles indexed in databases ISI, SID, PubMed, PubMed Central, Scopus and Web of Science were used. A total of 12 plant-derived active ingredients and 18 herbal extracts were included. Different compounds have so far been isolated from plants that affect PD especially by targeting pathways associated with the pathogenesis of the disease. Results: Although some herbal extracts such as Hibiscus asper Hook. f. (Malvaceae), Ginkgo biloba L. (Ginkgoaceae) , Carthamus tinctorius L (Asteraceae) and certain active ingredients, such as berberine and curcumin, have shown positive effects in animal models of PD, potential active ingredients and mechanisms of action should be investigated in additional studies. Discussion and conclusions: Despite the wide variety of plants in the world, a limited number of them have been studied for anti-Parkinsonian activity, and therefore, there are numerous perspectives in this field for future studies on plants and their bioactive compounds.

Natural Polyhydroxy Flavonoids, Curcuminoids, and Synthetic Curcumin Analogs as α7 nAChRs Positive Allosteric Modulators

“…On the other hand, curcumin ( 12 ), a yellow pigment isolated from the rhizome of curcuma longa (turmeric), extensively used in traditional medicine for thousands of years, has been widely studied because of its uncountable therapeutic properties [ 39 ], from cancer [ 40 , 41 ] and arthritis [ 42 ] to neurodegenerative diseases [ 43 ] like Parkinson [ 44 ] and Alzheimer [ 45 ], as well as pain [ 46 ]. Its biological activity is mainly attributed to its particular chemical structure, having the advantage of low toxicity.…”

A Role of Gallic Acid in Oxidative Damage Diseases: A Comprehensive Review

“…The antioxidant properties of gallic acid have been exploited in the solution of neurodegenerative disorders, such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases. [53][54][55] As shown in Table 3, a number of studies have demonstrated the protective effects of gallic acid on brain damage in different animal models.…”

Olive Leaves and Hibiscus Flowers Extracts-Based Preparation Protect Brain from Oxidative Stress-Induced Injury

“…Human SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cells (ECACC Cat# 94030304, passages [6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20], grown in standard conditions, as already reported [14] were sub-cultured at 70-80% confluent, medium changed twice/week and experiments were performed by using cells in the exponential phase of growth.…”

“…Slice viability along with tissue edema were determined at the end of the treatments. The effects of PRES per se were assessed in slices treated with the extract (10-200 µg/mL) for a corresponding period (2 h) [12].…”

“…This formulation, the composition of which has been fully characterized [8] (see also below) possesses antioxidant and cytoprotective effects [8,9], mainly due to the phenolic compounds found in both plants which includes hydroxytyrosol, oleuropein, flavonoids, chalcones, tannins, and hibiscus acid. Most of them possess neuroprotective properties along with many other positive effects [10][11][12][13]. Therefore, the aim of the present work was to assess the neuroprotective properties of PRES toward OS-mediated injury in human neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y cells.…”