Title:Therapeutic Potential of Ferulic Acid in Alzheimer's Disease
Volume: 19
Issue: 8
Author(s): Hasan Turkez*, Mehmet Enes Arslan, Joice Nascimento Barboza, Cigdem Yuce Kahraman, Damiao Pergentino de Sousa and Adil Mardinoğlu
Affiliation:
- Department of Medical Biology, Faculty of Medicine, Atatürk University, Erzurum 25240, Turkey
- Department of
Pharmacy, University G. d’Annunzio Chieti-Pescara, Via deiVestini 31, Chieti 66100, Italy
Keywords:
Ferulic acid, anti-Alzheimer, Alzheimer’s disease, experimental Alzheimer’s model, amyloid-beta, drug candidate, neurotoxicity, neuroprotection.
Abstract: Alzheimer's Disease (AD) is one of the most important neurodegenerative diseases, accounting
for 60% of all dementia cases. AD is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that occurs
due to the production of β-amyloid (Aβ) protein and accumulation of hyper-phosphorylated tau protein;
it causes breakage in the synaptic bonds and neuronal deaths to a large extent. Millions of people
worldwide suffer from AD because there is no definitive drug for disease prevention, treatment,
or slowing down its progression. Over the last decade, multiple target applications have been developed
for AD treatments. These targets include Aβ accumulations, hyper-phosphorylated tau proteins,
mitochondrial dysfunction, and oxidative stress, resulting in toxicity. Various natural or
semisynthetic antioxidant formulations have been shown to protect brain cells from Aβ-induced
toxicity and provide promising potentials for AD treatment. Ferulic acid (FA), a high-capacity antioxidant
molecule, is naturally synthesized from certain plants. FA has been shown to have different
substantial biological properties, such as anticancer, antidiabetic, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory,
hepatoprotective, and cardioprotective actions, etc. Furthermore, FA exerts neuroprotection
via preventing Aβ-fibril formation, acting as an anti-inflammatory agent, and inhibiting free radical
generation and acetylcholinesterase (AChE) enzyme activity. In this review, we present key biological
roles of FA and several FA derivatives in preventing Aβ-induced neurotoxicity, protecting
against free radical attacks, and exhibiting enzyme inhibitions and evaluate them as possible therapeutic
agents for the treatment of AD.