Phytochemicals as substances that affect astrogliosis and their implications for the management of neurodegenerative diseases

Fatemeh Forouzanfar; Ali Mohammad Pourbagher-Shahri; Farzaneh Vafaee; Thozhukat Sathyapalan; Amirhossein Sahebkar

doi:10.2174/0929867330666230504121523

Phytochemicals as substances that affect astrogliosis and their implications for the management of neurodegenerative diseases

Curr Med Chem. 2023 May 4. doi: 10.2174/0929867330666230504121523. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Fatemeh Forouzanfar^{1

2}, Ali Mohammad Pourbagher-Shahri^{1

2}, Farzaneh Vafaee^{1

2}, Thozhukat Sathyapalan³, Amirhossein Sahebkar^{4

5}

Affiliations

¹ Neuroscience Research Center, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.
² Department of Neuroscience, Faculty of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.
³ Department of Academic Diabetes, Endocrinology and Metabolism, Hull York Medical School, University of Hull, Hull HU3 2JZ, UK.
⁴ Biotechnology Research Center, Pharmaceutical Technology Institute, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.
⁵ Applied Biomedical Research Center, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.

PMID: 37143267
DOI: 10.2174/0929867330666230504121523

Abstract

Astrocytes are a multifunctional subset of glial cells that are important in maintaining the health and function of the central nervous system (CNS). Reactive astrocytes may release inflammatory mediators, chemokines, and cytokines, as well as neurotrophic factors. There may be neuroprotective (e.g., cytokines, like IL-6 and TGF-b) and neurotoxic effects (e.g., IL-1β and TNF-a) associated with these molecules. In response to CNS pathologies, astrocytes go to a state called astrogliosis which produces diverse and heterogenic functions specific to the pathology. Astrogliosis has been linked to the progression of many neurodegenerative disorders. Phytochemicals are a large group of compounds derived from natural herbs with health benefits. This review will summarize how several phytochemicals affect neurodegenerative diseases (e.g., Alzheimer's disease, Huntington's disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, and Parkinson's disease) in basic medical and clinical studies and how they might affect astrogliosis in the process.

Keywords: Astrocytes; Central nervous system; Herbal medicine; Neurodegenerative diseases; Phytochemicals; health.