Investigation of mechanisms related to the neuroprotective activity of 1,8-cineol, limonene and myrtenol compounds isolated from plants in animal Parkinson's disease model

Abstract

The incidence of neurodegenerative disorders such Parkinson's disease is increasing in last decades. Innovative healthcare treatments and incremental effectiveness ratio are essential to control symptoms. Given the background, Brazil is a country to one of the richest biodiversity in the world, its fauna and flora may be a source of bioactive compounds with therapeutic potential. Studies have shown that compounds from natural products, such as plant extracts are potential antioxidant, anxiolytics anticonvulsant and antidepressant agents. Compounds from extracts are true "chemical weapons" which have different pharmacological effects on various biological systems. For instance, many of these natural products are neurotoxins with specificity and affinity for nervous tissue. These can act on receptors and transporters, or they targeted selectively on ligand- or voltage-dependent ion channels located in the neuronal membrane of vertebrates. Natural products are tools that can help in the understanding of neuropathological alterations in neurotransmission in humans, relating to diseases such as epilepsy, Parkinson's disease, ischemia, glaucoma, etc. Nevertheless, the potential clinical use of isolated components from natural products is poorly exploited. From another standpoint, new isolation techniques, purification and synthesis of natural products can provide a new generation of bioactive substances that could be available as feasible tools in scientific research, and especially for the development of new therapies. The development of therapeutics for neuropathology is undoubted. Recently, our research group showed that two herbal extracts (Eplingiella fruticosa and Lippia grata) have neuroprotective actions in progressive animal model of DP. In addition, when these essential oils were complexed or encapsulated on cyclodextrin (host), presented an improvement in the bioavailability and pharmacological effects. Thus, our aim is to investigate the possible neuroprotective effect of the 1,8 cineole, limonene and myrtenol terpenes complexed with ²-cyclodextrin on the reserpine-induce progressive model for PD in mice, and to understand action mechanisms involved. (AU)