Antioxidants polyphenols from Beilschmiedia costaricensis (leaves) as potential neuroprotective agents

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a progressive neurodegenerative hypokinetic movement disorder that results from the selective degeneration of dopaminergic neurons accompanied by behavioral and motor abnormalities such as resting tremor, rigidity, bradykinesia, and postural instability (Fu et al., 2015).The exact etiology of PD is unknown and it is believed that is caused by increased oxidative stress, long term toxin exposure like herbicides, mitochondrial dysfunction and neurotransmitter unbalance. Excessive degeneration of these dopaminergic neurons is well correlated with reactive oxygen species (ROS) increment.
Polyphenols isolated from natural products have an important role in plants commonly shown as antioxidants and free radical scavenger (Lu, Y., & Foo, L. Y., 2000).
Could be suitable a therapy with this kind of substances or phytotherapy against neurodegenerative diseases, especially Parkinson’s disease.
In the present study, we investigated the neuroprotective potential of natural antioxidants from leaves of Beilschmiedia costaricensis (Lauraceae) for the treatment of Parkinson´s disease. Antioxidant polyphenols isolation was carried out using different chromatographic techniques and TLC-bioautography against DPPHº, yielding eight pure compounds. The neuroprotective effect of isolated polyphenols was evaluated in SH-SY5Y differentiated neuroblastoma cell line with retinoic acid (RA) against paraquat toxin (PQ). In vitro studies showed a flavone with the most potent neuroprotective effect. Our results suggest that exist a direct correlation between antioxidant capacity and the neuroprotective effect by inducing oxidative stress.