title: Ferulic Acid: A Hope for Alzheimer's Disease Therapy from Plants.
abstract: Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disorder characterized by the deposition of extracellular amyloid-beta peptide (Aβ) and intracellular neurofibrillar tangles, associated with loss of neurons in the brain and consequent learning and memory deficits. Aβ is the major component of the senile plaques and is believed to play a central role in the development and progress of AD both in oligomer and fibril forms. Inhibition of the formation of Aβ fibrils as well as the destabilization of preformed Aβ in the Central Nervous System (CNS) would be an attractive therapeutic target for the treatment of AD. Moreover, a large number of studies indicate that oxidative stress and mitochondrial dysfunction may play an important role in AD and their suppression or reduction via antioxidant use could be a promising preventive or therapeutic intervention for AD patients. Many antioxidant compounds have been demonstrated to protect the brain from Aβ neurotoxicity. Ferulic acid (FA) is an antioxidant naturally present in plant cell walls with anti-inflammatory activities and it is able to act as a free radical scavenger. Here we present the role of FA as inhibitor or disaggregating agent of amyloid structures as well as its effects on biological models.
authors.affiliation: NEST Istituto Nanoscienze CNR and Scuola Normale Superiore, Piazza S. Silvestro 12, Pisa 56127, Italy. antonella.sgarbossa@nano.cnr.it.
authors.forename: Antonella
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sgarbossa
authors.affiliation: Istituto di Biofisica (IBF) CNR, Via U. La Malfa 153, Palermo 90146, Italy. daniela.giacomazza@cnr.it.
authors.forename: Daniela
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Giacomazza
authors.affiliation: Istituto di Biomedicina ed Immunologia Molecolare (IBIM) CNR, Via U. La Malfa 153, Palermo 90146, Italy. marta.dicarlo@ibim.cnr.it.
authors.forename: Marta
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: di Carlo
mesh_terms: D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000378:metabolism; D016229:Amyloid beta-Peptides / Q000378:metabolism; D000975:Antioxidants / Q000737:chemistry / Q000627:therapeutic use; D003373:Coumaric Acids / Q000737:chemistry / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D005309:Ferula / Q000737:chemistry*; D006801:Humans
chemical_list: D016229:Amyloid beta-Peptides; D000975:Antioxidants; D003373:Coumaric Acids; C004999:ferulic acid
keywords: Alzheimer’s disease; antioxidants; apoptosis; fibrillogenesis; nanotechnology; oxidative stress