Antioxidant and Anti-inflammatory Mechanisms of Neuroprotection by Ursolic Acid: Addressing Brain Injury, Cerebral Ischemia, Cognition Deficit, Anxiety, and Depression

Abstract

Ursolic acid (UA) is a pentacyclic triterpene which is found in common herbs and medicinal plants that are reputed for a variety of pharmacological effects. Both as an active principle of these plants and as a nutraceutical ingredient, the pharmacology of UA in the CNS and other organs and systems has been extensively reported in recent years. In this communication, the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory axis of UA’s pharmacology is appraised for its therapeutic potential in some common CNS disorders. Classic examples include the traumatic brain injury (TBI), cerebral ischemia, cognition deficit, anxiety, and depression. The pharmacological efficacy for UA is demonstrated through the therapeutic principle of one drug→multitargets→one/many disease(s). Both specific enzymes and receptor targets along with diverse pharmacological effects associated with oxidative stress and inflammatory signalling are scrutinised.

Panax notoginseng saponins suppress lipopolysaccharide‐induced barrier disruption and monocyte adhesion on bEnd.3 cells via the opposite modulation of Nrf2 antioxidant and NF‐κB inflammatory pathways

“…To add insult to brain injury, inflammatory processes are being correlated with alterations in cellular metabolism (Yin et al, ). Numerous compounds are medicative in brain disorders depending on their antioxidant and anti‐inflammatory activity (Abdelsalam & Safar, ; Habtemariam, ; Janyou et al, ; Shal, Ding, Ali, Kim, & Khan, ). On the other hand, oxidative stress and inflammation also play crucial roles in BBB injury (Janyou et al, ; Zhang, Jiang, et al, ).…”

“…Numerous compounds are medicative in brain disorders depending on their antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activity (Abdelsalam & Safar, 2015;Habtemariam, 2019;Janyou et al, 2017;Shal, Ding, Ali, Kim, & Khan, 2018). On the other hand, oxidative stress and inflammation also play crucial roles in BBB injury (Janyou et al, 2017;Zhang, Jiang, et al, 2017).…”

The Chemistry, Pharmacology and Therapeutic Potential of the Edible Mushroom Dictyophora indusiata (Vent ex. Pers.) Fischer (Synn. Phallus indusiatus)

“…In this connection, an emerging mechanism of action for such natural products is the redox sensitive transcription factor Nrf2. Hence, compounds with weak radical scavenging effects can induce considerable antioxidant effects in vivo by upregulating the expression of Nrf2 leading to the activation of antioxidant genes and proteins including glutamate-cysteine ligase, glutathione peroxidase 1, thioredoxin reductase 1, NAD(P)H-quinone oxidoreductase 1, glutathione-S-transferase, SOD, CAT, peroxiredoxin, ferritin and HO-1 [71][72][73]. The demonstration of D. indusiata polysaccharides to increase this antioxidant status under various experimental conditions in vitro and in vivo suggest their wider potential as antioxidant agents.…”

Ursolic acid derivative UA232 evokes apoptosis of lung cancer cells induced by endoplasmic reticulum stress

“…The early research of UA it was mainly used in antibacterial, antiviral, and immune regulation (Kim et al 2013;do Nascimento et al 2014). Multiple studies further demonstrated that UA had more pharmacological effects, such as blocking the process of chronic disease (Yu et al 2017), radiosensitization (Yang et al 2015), neuroprotective (Habtemariam 2019), antidiabetic (Xu et al 2018), and antitumor (Zang et al 2014). Studies have confirmed that UA plays an antitumor role in a variety of tumours, including colorectal cancer (Kim et al 2018), breast cancer (Yin et al 2018), endometrial carcinoma (Achiwa et al 2013), and lung cancer (Yang et al 2019).…”

“… 2017 ), radiosensitization (Yang et al. 2015 ), neuroprotective (Habtemariam 2019 ), antidiabetic (Xu et al. 2018 ), and antitumor (Zang et al.…”