Paradigms and Success Stories of Natural Products in Drug Discovery Against Neurodegenerative Disorders (NDDs)

Abstract

Neurodegenerative disorders (NDDs) are multifaceted complex disorders that have put a great health and economic burden around the globe nowadays. The multi-factorial nature of NDDs has presented a great challenge in drug discovery and continuous efforts are in progress in search of suitable therapeutic candidates. Nature has a great wealth of active principles in its lap that has cured the human population since ancient times. Natural products have revealed several benefits over conventional synthetic medications and scientists have shifted their vision towards exploring the therapeutic potentials of natural products in the past few years. The structural mimicking of natural compounds to endogenous ligands has presented them as a potential therapeutic candidate to prevent the development of NDDs. In the presented review, authors have summarized demographical facts about various NDDs including Alzheimer’s disease (AD), Parkinson’s disease (PD), Huntington’s disease (HD) and various types of sclerosis in the brain. The significant findings of new active principles of natural origin along with their therapeutic potentials on NDDs have been included. Also, a description of clinical trials and patents on natural products has been enlisted in this compilation. Although natural products have shown promising success in drug discovery against NDDs, still their use is associated with several ethical issues which need to be solved in the upcoming time.

Nitrogen‐containing heterocyclic compounds: A ray of hope in depression?

“…The wellknown herb St. John's Wort, despite being best-selling, the FDA has not given any authorization to use as a nonprescribed or prescription drug for depression due to some safety and efficacy issues (Di Carlo et al, 2001;Ionescu et al, 2022). ω-3 fatty acids and S-adenosylmethionine (SAMe) are used as natural dietary remedies but remain under study due to no proof of safety and effectiveness for daily use (Kasper, 2022;Ortega et al, 2022;Singh et al, 2024). Besides treatment with antidepressant drugs, among other available approaches, following are the common therapies to manage the symptoms of depression: Support: It can be possible by providing practical knowledge and information to the family members of the patient to help the depressive person reduce symptoms, boost self-confidence, reestablish a connection to reality, control urges and negative thoughts, and strengthen coping mechanisms for stressful and difficult situations in life (Gaynor et al, 2003).…”

“…The well‐known herb St. John's Wort, despite being best‐selling, the FDA has not given any authorization to use as a nonprescribed or prescription drug for depression due to some safety and efficacy issues (Di Carlo et al., 2001; Ionescu et al., 2022). ω‐3 fatty acids and S‐adenosylmethionine (SAMe) are used as natural dietary remedies but remain under study due to no proof of safety and effectiveness for daily use (Kasper, 2022; Ortega et al., 2022; Singh et al., 2024). Besides treatment with antidepressant drugs, among other available approaches, following are the common therapies to manage the symptoms of depression:…”

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“…Neurodegenerative disorders (NDs) are the leading causes of disability and also account for the second-leading cause of mortality worldwide . NDs are a heterogeneous group of complex human health issues that affect millions of people, mostly the elderly, globally, and they represent various patterns of neuron loss in the motor, sensory, or cognitive systems, contributing to various movement, cognition, memory, and psychosocial functioning problems. − NDs stem from various causes, most of which are genetic predisposition, misfolded protein accumulation, mitochondrial dysfunction, oxidative stress, neuroinflammation, ion channels’ function changes, and excitotoxicity. Oxidative stress represents an imbalance between oxidants and antioxidants in a biological system, because of either the enhancement of reactive oxygen species (ROS) or a deficient function of the antioxidant system, which results in lipid peroxidation, DNA damage, and neuroinflammation.…”