Barone Eugenio, Calabrese Vittorio, Mancuso Cesare
Institute of Pharmacology, Catholic University School of Medicine, Largo Francesco. Vito 1, 00168, Rome, Italy.
Biogerontology. 2009 Apr;10(2):97-108. doi: 10.1007/s10522-008-9160-8. Epub 2008 Jul 24.
Ferulic acid (FA) is a polyphenol very abundant in vegetables and maize bran. Several lines of evidence have shown that FA acts as a potent antioxidant in vitro, due to its ability to scavenge free radicals and induce a robust cell stress response through the up-regulation of cytoprotective enzymes such as heme oxygenase-1, heat shock protein 70, extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 and Akt. Furthermore, FA inhibited the expression and/or activity of cytotoxic enzymes including inducible nitric oxide synthase, caspases and cyclooxygenase-2. On this basis, FA has been proposed for the treatment of several age-related diseases such as neurodegenerative disorders, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and cancer. However, although the great abundance of in vitro data, the real efficacy of FA in humans has not been demonstrated so far. New efforts and resources should be transferred to clinical research for the complete evaluation of the therapeutic potential of FA in chronic diseases.
阿魏酸（FA）是一种在蔬菜和玉米麸皮中含量非常丰富的多酚。多项证据表明，FA在体外具有强大的抗氧化作用，因为它能够清除自由基，并通过上调细胞保护酶（如血红素加氧酶-1、热休克蛋白70、细胞外信号调节激酶1/2和Akt）来诱导强烈的细胞应激反应。此外，FA抑制了包括诱导型一氧化氮合酶、半胱天冬酶和环氧化酶-2在内的细胞毒性酶的表达和/或活性。基于此，有人提出FA可用于治疗多种与年龄相关的疾病，如神经退行性疾病、心血管疾病、糖尿病和癌症。然而，尽管体外数据丰富，但迄今为止，FA在人体中的实际疗效尚未得到证实。应该投入新的努力和资源进行临床研究，以全面评估FA在慢性疾病中的治疗潜力。
