Title:Effects of Natural Products on Neuromuscular Junction
Volume: 20
Issue: 3
Author(s): Esra Küpeli Akkol*, Gökçe Şeker Karatoprak, Elif Carpar, Yaseen Hussain, Haroon Khan and Michael Aschner
Affiliation:
- Department of Pharmacognosy, Faculty of Pharmacy, Gazi University, 06330, Ankara, Turkey
Keywords:
Acetylcholinesterase, lambert-eaton myasthenic syndrome, myasthenia gravis, natural product, neuromuscular junction, NMJ diseases.
Abstract: Neuromuscular junction (NMJ) disorders result from damage, malfunction or absence of
one or more key proteins involved in neuromuscular transmission, comprising a wide range of disorders.
The most common pathology is antibody-mediated or downregulation of ion channels or receptors,
resulting in Lambert-Eaton myasthenic syndrome, myasthenia gravis, and acquired neuromyotonia
(Isaac’s syndrome), and rarely congenital myasthenic syndromes caused by mutations in NMJ proteins.
A wide range of symptomatic treatments, immunomodulating therapies, or immunosuppressive
drugs have been used to treat NMJ diseases. Future research must be directed at a better understanding
of the pathogenesis of these diseases, and developing novel disease-specific treatments. Numerous secondary
metabolites, especially alkaloids isolated from plants, have been used to treat NMJ diseases in
traditional and clinical practices. An ethnopharmacological approach has provided leads for identifying
new treatments for NMJ diseases. In this review, we performed a literature survey in Pubmed, Science
Direct, and Google Scholar to gather information on drug discovery from plant sources for NMJ disease
treatments. To date, most research has focused on the effects of herbal remedies on cholinesterase
inhibitory and antioxidant activities. This review provides leads for identifying potential new drugs
from plant sources for the treatment of NMJ diseases.