title: Therapeutic potential of natural products in Parkinson's disease.
abstract: The central objective in treating patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) is two-fold (i) to increase the striatal dopamine content and (ii) to prevent further degeneration of the surviving dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra region of the ventral midbrain. Most of the current PD drugs contribute to the former and provide symptomatic relief. Although compounds such as Levodopa (L-DOPA) improve the striatal dopamine content, their long-term usage is associated with progressive decrease in drug response, motor fluctuations, dyskinesias and drug-induced toxicity. In addition, these drugs fail to prevent the progression of the degenerative process. This has shifted the focus onto alternative therapeutic approaches involving natural products that could provide independent therapy or offer neuroprotective support to the existing drugs. The current review describes the neuroprotective and therapeutic utility of such natural products including herbal extracts, phytochemicals and bioactive ingredients from other natural sources either in isolation or in combination, with potential application in PD, highlighting the relevant patents.
authors: Department of Neurochemistry, National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS), No. 2900, Hosur Road, Bangalore-560029, India. r.mythri@gmail.com
authors: Rajeswara B
authors: RB
authors: Mythri
authors: Gangadharappa
authors: G
authors: Harish
authors: M M
authors: MM
authors: Bharath
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001688:Biological Products / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001905:Botulinum Toxins / Q000627:therapeutic use; D020939:Zingiber officinale; D006801:Humans; D007980:Levodopa / Q000627:therapeutic use; D018696:Neuroprotective Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D009538:Nicotine / Q000627:therapeutic use; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000188:drug therapy*; D010330:Patents as Topic; D010833:Phytic Acid / Q000627:therapeutic use; D008517:Phytotherapy / Q000379:methods*; D029222:Piper nigrum; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000627:therapeutic use
chemical_list: D001688:Biological Products; D018696:Neuroprotective Agents; D010936:Plant Extracts; D007980:Levodopa; D009538:Nicotine; D010833:Phytic Acid; D001905:Botulinum Toxins