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Zaa CA, Espitia C, Reyes-Barrera KL, An Z, Velasco-Velázquez MA. Neuroprotective Agents with Therapeutic Potential for COVID-19. Biomolecules 2023; 13:1585. [PMID: 38002267 PMCID: PMC10669388 DOI: 10.3390/biom13111585] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/12/2023] [Revised: 10/19/2023] [Accepted: 10/20/2023] [Indexed: 11/26/2023] Open
Abstract
COVID-19 patients can exhibit a wide range of clinical manifestations affecting various organs and systems. Neurological symptoms have been reported in COVID-19 patients, both during the acute phase of the illness and in cases of long-term COVID. Moderate symptoms include ageusia, anosmia, altered mental status, and cognitive impairment, and in more severe cases can manifest as ischemic cerebrovascular disease and encephalitis. In this narrative review, we delve into the reported neurological symptoms associated with COVID-19, as well as the underlying mechanisms contributing to them. These mechanisms include direct damage to neurons, inflammation, oxidative stress, and protein misfolding. We further investigate the potential of small molecules from natural products to offer neuroprotection in models of neurodegenerative diseases. Through our analysis, we discovered that flavonoids, alkaloids, terpenoids, and other natural compounds exhibit neuroprotective effects by modulating signaling pathways known to be impacted by COVID-19. Some of these compounds also directly target SARS-CoV-2 viral replication. Therefore, molecules of natural origin show promise as potential agents to prevent or mitigate nervous system damage in COVID-19 patients. Further research and the evaluation of different stages of the disease are warranted to explore their potential benefits.
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Affiliation(s)
- César A. Zaa
- School of Biological Sciences, Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos (UNMSM), Lima 15081, Peru;
| | - Clara Espitia
- Department of Immunology, Institute of Biomedical Research, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), Mexico City 04510, Mexico; (C.E.); (K.L.R.-B.)
| | - Karen L. Reyes-Barrera
- Department of Immunology, Institute of Biomedical Research, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), Mexico City 04510, Mexico; (C.E.); (K.L.R.-B.)
| | - Zhiqiang An
- Texas Therapeutics Institute, Brown Foundation Institute of Molecular Medicine, University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston, TX 77030, USA;
| | - Marco A. Velasco-Velázquez
- Texas Therapeutics Institute, Brown Foundation Institute of Molecular Medicine, University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston, TX 77030, USA;
- School of Medicine, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), Mexico City 04510, Mexico
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Antioxidants: an approach for restricting oxidative stress induced neurodegeneration in Alzheimer's disease. Inflammopharmacology 2023; 31:717-730. [PMID: 36933175 DOI: 10.1007/s10787-023-01173-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/11/2023] [Accepted: 02/20/2023] [Indexed: 03/19/2023]
Abstract
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the leading cause of dementia, affecting millions of people worldwide. Oxidative stress contributes towards induction of neurodegeneration. It is one of the reasons behind initiation and progression of Alzheimer's disease. Understanding of oxidative balance and restoration of oxidative stress has demonstrated its effectiveness in the management of AD. Various natural and synthetic molecules have been found to be effective in different models of AD. Some clinical studies also support the use of antioxidants for prevention of neurodegeneration in AD. In this review we are summarizing the development of antioxidants to restrict oxidative stress induced neurodegeneration in AD.
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Ozturk M, Chia JE, Hazra R, Saqib M, Maine R, Guler R, Suzuki H, Mishra BB, Brombacher F, Parihar SP. Evaluation of Berberine as an Adjunct to TB Treatment. Front Immunol 2021; 12:656419. [PMID: 34745081 PMCID: PMC8563784 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2021.656419] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/20/2021] [Accepted: 09/30/2021] [Indexed: 01/23/2023] Open
Abstract
Tuberculosis (TB) is the global health problem with the second highest number of deaths from a communicable disease after COVID-19. Although TB is curable, poor health infrastructure, long and grueling TB treatments have led to the spread of TB pandemic with alarmingly increasing multidrug-resistant (MDR)-TB prevalence. Alternative host modulating therapies can be employed to improve TB drug efficacies or dampen the exaggerated inflammatory responses to improve lung function. Here, we investigated the adjunct therapy of natural immune-modulatory compound berberine in C57BL/6 mouse model of pulmonary TB. Berberine treatment did not affect Mtb growth in axenic cultures; however, it showed increased bacterial killing in primary murine bone marrow-derived macrophages and human monocyte-derived macrophages. Ad libitum berberine administration was beneficial to the host in combination with rifampicin and isoniazid. Berberine adjunctive treatment resulted in decreased lung pathology with no additive or synergistic effects on bacterial burdens in mice. Lung immune cell flow cytometry analysis showed that adjunctive berberine treatment decreased neutrophil, CD11b+ dendritic cell and recruited interstitial macrophage numbers. Late onset of adjunctive berberine treatment resulted in a similar phenotype with consistently reduced numbers of neutrophils both in lungs and the spleen. Together, our results suggest that berberine can be supplemented as an immunomodulatory agent depending on the disease stage and inflammatory status of the host.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mumin Ozturk
- International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB), Cape Town, South Africa
- Division of Immunology and South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC) Immunology of Infectious Diseases, Institute of Infectious Diseases and Molecular Medicine (IDM), Department of Pathology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
| | - Julius E. Chia
- International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB), Cape Town, South Africa
- Division of Immunology and South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC) Immunology of Infectious Diseases, Institute of Infectious Diseases and Molecular Medicine (IDM), Department of Pathology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
| | - Rudranil Hazra
- Wellcome Centre for Infectious Diseases Research in Africa (CIDRI-Africa) and Institute of Infectious Diseases and Molecular Medicine (IDM), Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
- Division of Medical Microbiology, Institute of Infectious Diseases and Molecular Medicine (IDM), Department of Pathology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
| | - Mohd Saqib
- Department of Immunology and Microbial Disease, Albany Medical College, Albany, NY, United States
| | - Rebeng A. Maine
- International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB), Cape Town, South Africa
- Division of Immunology and South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC) Immunology of Infectious Diseases, Institute of Infectious Diseases and Molecular Medicine (IDM), Department of Pathology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
- Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
| | - Reto Guler
- International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB), Cape Town, South Africa
- Division of Immunology and South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC) Immunology of Infectious Diseases, Institute of Infectious Diseases and Molecular Medicine (IDM), Department of Pathology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
- Wellcome Centre for Infectious Diseases Research in Africa (CIDRI-Africa) and Institute of Infectious Diseases and Molecular Medicine (IDM), Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
| | - Harukazu Suzuki
- RIKEN Center for Integrative Medical Sciences, Yokohama, Japan
| | - Bibhuti B. Mishra
- Department of Immunology and Microbial Disease, Albany Medical College, Albany, NY, United States
| | - Frank Brombacher
- International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB), Cape Town, South Africa
- Division of Immunology and South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC) Immunology of Infectious Diseases, Institute of Infectious Diseases and Molecular Medicine (IDM), Department of Pathology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
- Wellcome Centre for Infectious Diseases Research in Africa (CIDRI-Africa) and Institute of Infectious Diseases and Molecular Medicine (IDM), Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
| | - Suraj P. Parihar
- International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB), Cape Town, South Africa
- Division of Immunology and South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC) Immunology of Infectious Diseases, Institute of Infectious Diseases and Molecular Medicine (IDM), Department of Pathology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
- Wellcome Centre for Infectious Diseases Research in Africa (CIDRI-Africa) and Institute of Infectious Diseases and Molecular Medicine (IDM), Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
- Division of Medical Microbiology, Institute of Infectious Diseases and Molecular Medicine (IDM), Department of Pathology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
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Adefegha SA, Dada FA, Oyeleye SI, Oboh G. Effects of berberine on cholinesterases and monoamine oxidase activities, and antioxidant status in the brain of streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic rats. J Basic Clin Physiol Pharmacol 2021; 33:389-397. [PMID: 33725758 DOI: 10.1515/jbcpp-2020-0173] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/03/2020] [Accepted: 01/23/2021] [Indexed: 01/02/2023]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES Several studies had been conducted to examine the link between diabetes and diabetes encephalopathy. This study was conducted to examine the potency of berberine (BER) on the restoration of impaired neurochemicals in the brain of streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic Wistar rats. METHODS Fifty-six (56) adult rats weighing between 200 and 230 g were randomly divided into seven groups (n=8) as follows; Group I is normal control; Groups II and III were normal rats treated with 50 and 100 mg/kg respectively; Group IV-VII were STZ-induced rats, but Groups V-VII were treated with acarbose (25 mg/kg), 50 and 100 mg/kg of BER, respectively. RESULTS The result of the study showed that untreated STZ-induced diabetic rats have increased acetylcholinesterase (AChE), butyrylcholinesterase (BChE), monoamine oxidase (MAO) activities, and malonylaldehyde (MDA) level, with concomitant decrease of superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GPx) activities, and glutathione (GSH) level. However, daily treatment with 50 and 100 mg/kg BER and ACA significantly reversed these effects. CONCLUSIONS The findings of this study clearly indicated that BER possesses neuro-protective and antioxidative potentials and normalize neurochemical impairment distort by diabetes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stephen A Adefegha
- Functional Foods and Nutraceuticals Research Laboratory, Biochemistry Department, Federal University of Technology, Akure, Nigeria
| | - Felix A Dada
- Science Laboratory Technology Department (Biochemistry Unit), Ede, Osun State, Nigeria
| | - Sunday I Oyeleye
- Functional Foods and Nutraceuticals Research Laboratory, Biochemistry Department, Federal University of Technology, Akure, Nigeria
| | - Ganiyu Oboh
- Functional Foods and Nutraceuticals Research Laboratory, Biochemistry Department, Federal University of Technology, Akure, Nigeria
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Albasher G, Alkahtani S, Alarifi S. Berberine mitigates oxidative damage associated with testicular impairment following mercury chloride intoxication. J Food Biochem 2020; 44:e13385. [PMID: 33460233 DOI: 10.1111/jfbc.13385] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/22/2020] [Revised: 06/25/2020] [Accepted: 06/28/2020] [Indexed: 12/17/2022]
Abstract
In this study, we assessed the protective effect of berberine (BBR) against mercuric chloride (HgCl2)-induced reproductive impairment. Twenty-eight adult male Wistar albino rats were placed into four equal groups: control, BBR, HgCl2, and BBR + HgCl2. All the treatments were orally administered for seven consecutive days. The rats exposed to HgCl2 showed a marked decrease in testosterone accompanied by an increase in lipid peroxidation (LPO) and nitric oxide (NO). Additionally, HgCl2 decreased glutathione (GSH) content, deactivated catalase (CAT) and glutathione reductase (GR), and suppressed the activities and mRNA expression of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GPx) in the testicular tissue. In addition, histological deformations and testicular cell loss were recorded, as evidenced by the upregulation of caspase-3 following HgCl2 intoxication. Notably, BBR administration reversed the testicular impairments associated with HgCl2 exposure. These findings suggest that BBR protected the testicular tissue following HgCl2 exposure through inhibiting the disturbance in the testosterone level and enhanced the antioxidant capacity. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS: Heavy metals are naturally existing metallic elements in the earth's crust. These trace metals have the potential to cause multiple adverse reactions to the living systems, even at low exposure doses. Human exposure may also result from industrial, agricultural, and domestic activities. Berberine (BBR, a naturally occurring quaternary benzylisoquinoline alkaloid) is a protoberberine and is the representative main active ingredient in all parts of Berberis species. BBR has been used widely in folk medicine worldwide for its multiple pharmacological and therapeutic activities; for example, in the treatment of digestive and reproductive system disorders, microorganism infections, hemorrhage and wound healing, and cardiovascular and ophthalmic diseases. We found that BBR administration was able to abrogate significantly the reproductive toxicity associated with Hg intoxication. This protective effect comes from its strong antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and antiapoptotic activities; suggesting that BBR may be applied to alleviate reproductive toxicity associated with Hg intoxication.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gadah Albasher
- Department of Zoology, College of Science, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
| | - Saad Alkahtani
- Department of Zoology, College of Science, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
| | - Saud Alarifi
- Department of Zoology, College of Science, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
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Diallyl Disulfide Suppresses Inflammatory and Oxidative Machineries following Carrageenan Injection-Induced Paw Edema in Mice. Mediators Inflamm 2020; 2020:8508906. [PMID: 32377166 PMCID: PMC7180418 DOI: 10.1155/2020/8508906] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/17/2020] [Revised: 02/22/2020] [Accepted: 03/17/2020] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Diallyl disulfide (DADS) is the major organosulfur constituent in garlic, with a variety of pharmacological activities including antioxidant and anti-inflammatory. Here, we examined the potential antiedematous impact of DADS- versus carrageenan-mediated paw edema in mice. Carrageenan injection potentiated an inflammatory reaction as presented by the elevated serological C-reactive protein (CRP) levels and transcription of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α, Tnfα), interleukin-1 beta (IL-1β, Il1b), interleukin-2 (IL-2, Il2), inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), nitric oxide (NO), cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2, Ptgs2), prostaglandin E2 (PGE2), monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1, Ccl1), nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB), and myeloperoxidase (MPO) activity, while interleukin-10 (IL-10) was declined in the injured paw tissue. Additionally, carrageenan elevated lipid peroxidation in terms of malondialdehyde (MDA) and decreased glutathione content (GSH). Remarkably, DADS was found to inhibit the inflammatory signaling, suppressed the developed oxidative damage, and protected the histopathological alterations in the inflamed paw tissue in response to carrageenan injection. Our findings suggest that DADS could be used as an alternative therapy used to alleviate the pathophysiological changes associated with the genesis of paw edema through its potent anti-inflammatory and antioxidant impacts.
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