Quercetin Derivatives in Combating Spinal Cord Injury: A Mechanistic and Systematic Review

Abstract

Spinal cord injury (SCI) possesses a complicated etiology. There is no FDA-approved treatment for SCI, and the majority of current interventions focus on reducing symptoms. During SCI, inflammation, oxidative stress, apoptosis, and autophagy are behind the secondary phase of SCI and cause serious consequences. It urges the need for providing multi-targeting agents, that possess lower side effects and higher efficacy. The plant secondary metabolites are multi-targeting agents and seem to provide new roads in combating diseases. Flavonoids are phytochemicals of continual interest to scientists in combating neurodegenerative diseases (NDDs). Flavonoids are being studied for their biological and pharmacological effects, particularly as antioxidants, anti-inflammatory agents, anti-apoptotic, and autophagy regulators. Quercetin is one of the most well-known flavonols known for its preventative and therapeutic properties. It is a naturally occurring bioactive flavonoid that has recently received a lot of attention for its beneficial effects on NDDs. Several preclinical evidence demonstrated its neuroprotective effects. In this systematic review, we aimed at providing the biological activities of quercetin and related derivatives against SCI. Detailed neuroprotective mechanisms of quercetin derivatives are also highlighted in combating SCI.

Effect and mechanism of quercetin or quercetin‐containing formulas against COVID‐19: From bench to bedside

“…Quercetin can exert neuroprotective effects by preventing oxidative stress-induced neural toxicity (Fakhri et al, 2022), and it was experimentally indicated to be beneficial for managing long COVID. However, no human studies have provided definitive evidence to support F I G U R E 3 Risk of bias for two clinical studies of quercetin.…”

“…SARS‐CoV‐2 infection can induce oxidative stress (Alam & Czajkowsky, 2022) which is related to the inflammatory response and to long COVID syndrome. The antioxidant capacity of quercetin has been extensively studied (Bentz, 2017; Fakhri et al, 2022; Pourteymour Fard Tabrizi et al, 2020). Quercetin can increase the levels of antioxidant enzymes such as SOD, CAT, POD, GR, GSHPX, and NADPH oxidase, offering protection against oxidative stress (Pourteymour Fard Tabrizi et al, 2020).…”

Biflavonoid quercetin protects against cyclophosphamide–induced organ toxicities via modulation of inflammatory cytokines, brain neurotransmitters, and astrocyte immunoreactivity

“…Also, in this study, quercetin supplementation concentration-dependently increased horizontal locomotion, self grooming and radial arm maze spatial working memory, while at both concentrations of quercetin, an anxiolytic effect and increase in Y maze spatial working memory was observed. Quercetin's ability to reverse brain injury has been reported severally (85)(86)(87)(88)(89)(90).…”

Exploration of the effect and potential mechanism of quercetin in repairing spinal cord injury based on network pharmacology and in vivo experimental verification

“…Although some reports showed that quercetin is effective in the treatment of spinal cord injury [ 18 ], the key pathways and genes involved in the repair of spinal cord injury are still unclear. Based on the complex interactions and influences between drug molecules and different intracellular pathways in SCI, network pharmacology analysis was used to explore the targets and potential mechanisms of quercetin in SCI repair.…”