Applied Biotechnology Research Center, Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences, Tehran 14359-16471, Iran.
Depatment of Pharmacy, Abdul Wali Khan University, Mardan 23200, Pakistan.
Pharmacol Res. 2018 Feb;128:359-365. doi: 10.1016/j.phrs.2017.10.008. Epub 2017 Oct 18.
Neurodegenerative disorders (NDDs) such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases are the most common age-related pathologies that affect millions of people all over the world. To date, effective therapy for NDDs is not available and current approaches to disease management include neuroprotection strategy with a hope of maintaining and enhancing the function of survising neurons. Of course, such an approach by its own will not offer a cure but is likely to delay the disease progression by ameliorating the increase of neurotoxic agents such reactive oxygen species (ROS) as well as the associated inflammatory cascades. In this regard, natural products including flavonods that offer neuroprotection through multiple mechanisms have gained a lot of interest in recent years. In this communication, evidences from the various experimental models and clinical trials on the therapeutic potential of one promising flavonod, apigenin, is presented. Its chemistry, mechanism of action and potential benefits in the various examples of NDDs are discussed in the light of drug discovery aspects.
神经退行性疾病（NDDs），如阿尔茨海默病和帕金森病，是最常见的与年龄相关的疾病，影响着全世界数以百万计的人。迄今为止，针对 NDDs 的有效治疗方法并不存在，目前的疾病管理方法包括神经保护策略，希望能维持和增强存活神经元的功能。当然，这种方法本身并不能治愈疾病，但可能通过改善神经毒性物质（如活性氧（ROS））以及相关炎症级联的增加来延缓疾病进展。在这方面，近年来，包括类黄酮在内的天然产物因其通过多种机制提供神经保护作用而引起了广泛关注。在本通讯中，介绍了一种有前途的类黄酮化合物芹菜素在各种实验模型和临床试验中的治疗潜力的证据。根据药物发现的角度，讨论了其化学结构、作用机制以及在各种 NDD 中的潜在益处。
