College of Pharmacy, Qassim University, P.O. Box 31922, Buraidah-51418, Saudi Arabia.
Saudi Pharm J. 2010 Jul;18(3):111-21. doi: 10.1016/j.jsps.2010.05.005. Epub 2010 May 31.
Traditional diets of people living in the Mediterranean basin are, among other components, very rich in extra-virgin olive oil, the most typical source of visible fat. Olive is a priceless source of monounsaturated and di-unsaturated fatty acids, polyphenolic antioxidants and vitamins. Oleuropein is the main glycoside in olives and is responsible for the bitter taste of immature and unprocessed olives. Chemically, oleuropein is the ester of elenolic acid and 3,4-dihydroxyphenyl ethanol, which possesses beneficial effects on human health, such as antioxidant, antiatherogenic, anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial properties. The phenolic fraction extracted from the leaves of the olive tree, which contains significant amounts of oleuropein, prevents lipoprotein oxidation. In addition, oleuropein has shown cardioprotective effect against acute adriamycin cardiotoxicity and an anti-ischemic and hypolipidemic activities. Recently, oleuropein has shown neuroprotection by forming a non-covalent complex with the Aβ peptide, which is a key hallmark of several degenerative diseases like Alzheimer and Parkinson. Thus, a large mass of research has been accumulating in the area of olive oil, in the attempt to provide evidence for the health benefits of olive oil consumption and to scientifically support the widespread adoption of traditional Mediterranean diet as a model of healthy eating. These results provide a molecular basis for some of the benefits potentially coming from oleuropein consumption and pave the way to further studies on the possible pharmacological use of oleuropein to prevent or to slow down the cardiovascular and neurodegenerative diseases.
传统的地中海饮食除了其他成分外，还非常富含特级初榨橄榄油，这是最典型的可见脂肪来源。橄榄油是一种非常宝贵的单不饱和脂肪酸和二不饱和脂肪酸、多酚抗氧化剂和维生素的来源。橄榄苦苷是橄榄中的主要糖苷，是未成熟和未加工橄榄产生苦味的原因。从化学上讲，橄榄苦苷是没食子酸和 3,4-二羟基苯乙醇的酯，对人类健康具有有益的作用，如抗氧化、抗动脉粥样硬化、抗癌、抗炎和抗菌特性。从橄榄树叶子中提取的酚类化合物，含有大量的橄榄苦苷，可防止脂蛋白氧化。此外，橄榄苦苷对急性阿霉素心脏毒性具有心脏保护作用，并且具有抗缺血和降血脂作用。最近，橄榄苦苷通过与 Aβ肽形成非共价复合物显示出神经保护作用，Aβ肽是阿尔茨海默病和帕金森病等几种退行性疾病的关键标志。因此，大量的研究集中在橄榄油领域，试图为橄榄油消费对健康的益处提供证据，并从科学上支持广泛采用传统的地中海饮食作为健康饮食模式。这些结果为橄榄苦苷消费可能带来的一些益处提供了分子基础，并为橄榄苦苷在预防或减缓心血管和神经退行性疾病方面的潜在药理学用途的进一步研究铺平了道路。
