![Sample our Physical Sciences journals, sign in here to start your FREE access for 14 days]({"type":"image" , "src" : "/sda/110819/TOC-Subject-Sample-2021-Physical-Sciences.jpg"})
Abstract
Aging and neurodegenerative diseases share oxidative stress cell damage and depletion of endogenous antioxidants as mechanisms of injury, phenomena that are occurring at different rates in each process. Nevertheless, as the central nervous system (CNS) consists largely of lipids and has a poor catalase activity, a low amount of superoxide dismutase and is rich in iron, its cellular components are damaged easily by overproduction of free radicals in any of these physiological or pathological conditions. Thus, antioxidants are needed to prevent the formation and to oppose the free radicals damage to DNA, lipids, proteins, and other biomolecules. Due to endogenous antioxidant defenses are inadequate to prevent damage completely, different efforts have been undertaken in order to increase the use of natural antioxidants and to develop antioxidants that might ameliorate neural injury by oxidative stress. In this context, natural antioxidants like flavonoids (quercetin, curcumin, luteolin and catechins), magnolol and honokiol are showing to be the efficient inhibitors of the oxidative process and seem to be a better therapeutic option than the traditional ones (vitamins C and E, and β-carotene) in various models of aging and injury in vitro and in vivo conditions. Thus, the goal of the present review is to discuss the molecular basis, mechanisms of action, functions, and targets of flavonoids, magnolol, honokiol and traditional antioxidants with the aim of obtaining better results when they are prescribed on aging and neurodegenerative diseases.
Acknowledgment
We acknowledge support from FIS/IMSS projects No. FIS/IMSS/PROT/G11-2/1013 and FIS/IMSS/PROT552 as well as FP-2003/025 and 2005/1/I/061. Mondragón-Lozano R.; Rodolfo Pinto received financial support from CONACYT; and Farfán-García E., Álvarez-Mejía A.L., and Sánchez-Torres S. received financial support from CONACYT and from IMSS.
We thank M.S. Julia Segura-Uribe from Hospital Infantil Federico Gómez, SSA, for the revision of the manuscript in English.
Declaration of interest
The authors report no declarations of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.