A compound found in a Californian plant could one day be used against Alzheimer's disease



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According to new research, a compound found in a California shrub could one day be used to combat brain aging and possibly even Alzheimer's disease. It is still in its infancy, but so far it has been shown that the compound has intriguing anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective effects when tested on mouse cells in a dish.

The medicinal plant is called yerba santa (Eriodictyon californicum), which is in Spanish for "sacred grass". It has been used by native Californian tribes to treat many ailments, so the team and many other plants were interested in finding promising compounds.

Yerba santa contains steroid, a flavonoid compound. Several flavonoids with neuroprotective and anti-inflammatory properties, the team was interested in the effect that sterubin and other flavonoids could have on the nerve cells of the mouse. They found that sterubine was effective against several cell death inducers. The results are reported in redox biology.

"It's a known but ignored compound," said in a statement Dr. Pamela Maher, senior author of the Salk Institute. "Not only did the sterubine prove to be much more active than the other flavonoids of the yerba santa in our trials, but it looks as good, if not better, than the other flavonoids we've studied."

The compound has a significant impact on the depletion of energy and inflammation of nerve cells, especially microglial cells. It is an iron remover, which is good because iron can play a role in nerve cell damage. It also reduces the accumulation of misfolded proteins and the inflammation seen in aging nerve cells.

"Alzheimer's disease is one of the leading causes of death in the United States," continued Maher. "And as age is a major risk factor, researchers are studying ways to counter the effects of aging on the brain. Our identification of sterubine as a powerful neuroprotective component […] is a promising step in this direction ".

Researchers are now considering studying the effects of the compound on live animal models of Alzheimer-like mice. They are interested in determining both the effects of sterubine and its toxicity. The team also suggested that it might be possible to test the compounds in humans soon, although the plants should be grown under standardized conditions. They say they do not see any major obstacles to producing a synthetic version of the sterubine.

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