Crocetin: A Systematic Review

Crocetin is an aglycone of crocin naturally occurring in saffron and produced in biological systems by hydrolysis of crocin as a bioactive metabolite. It is known to exist in several medicinal plants, the desiccative ripe fruit of the cape jasmine belonging to the Rubiaceae family, and stigmas of the saffron plant of the Iridaceae family. According to modern pharmacological investigations, crocetin possesses cardioprotective, hepatoprotective, neuroprotective, antidepressant, antiviral, anticancer, atherosclerotic, antidiabetic, and memory-enhancing properties. Although poor bioavailability hinders therapeutic applications, derivatization and formulation preparation technologies have broadened the application prospects for crocetin. To promote the research and development of crocetin, we summarized the distribution, preparation and production, total synthesis and derivatization technology, pharmacological activity, pharmacokinetics, drug safety, drug formulations, and preparation of crocetin.

Synergistic alleviation effects of Anchovy hydrolysates-catechin on scopolamine-induced mice memory deficits: the exploring of potential relationship among gut-brain-axis

Anchovy protein hydrolysates (APH) and Catechin (CA) have been proved to be effective in memory improvement. However, effects of APH-CA conjugates on their memory enhancing are little investigated. The underlying...

Under what circumstances does autobiographical memory enhance self-control?

<p>Self-control is an important skill because it helps us regulate many of our behaviours, such as how much we eat and drink. Limiting our intake of food and drink is sometimes difficult to do, however. One explanation for why self-control can be difficult is because the value for good health is discounted because it’s delayed, whereas the reward of food and drink are immediate. This is known as delay discounting: larger, future rewards (e.g. saving for a future holiday) decrease in value with the increase in delay and thus people sometimes pick a smaller, sooner reward instead (e.g. needless shopping now). Using a delay discounting paradigm, this study examined whether autobiographical memories can enhance self-control. Study 1 was a replication study and found that cuing participants to retrieve positive, episodic memories enhanced self-control. This effect was only evident in one out of two delay discounting measures used, however. Building on these findings, Study 2 and 3 investigated whether the amount of episodic detail in specific autobiographical memories and a positive self-concept contribute to the effect of autobiographical memory enhancing self-control. The amount of episodic detail recalled was not related to self-control and results about a positive self-concept were inconclusive. Unexpectedly Study 3 also yielded a non-significant result for positive, episodic memory enhancing self-control. Participants in Study 3 were, however, significantly more tired than participants in Study 1, raising the possibility that they were less engaged in the task. This pattern of findings suggests that the effect of autobiographical memory on self-control is fragile, and is possibly influenced by factors such as participant fatigue. Potential reasons for the fragile effect and inconclusive results, and a potential way forward are also discussed.</p>

Under what circumstances does autobiographical memory enhance self-control?

<p>Self-control is an important skill because it helps us regulate many of our behaviours, such as how much we eat and drink. Limiting our intake of food and drink is sometimes difficult to do, however. One explanation for why self-control can be difficult is because the value for good health is discounted because it’s delayed, whereas the reward of food and drink are immediate. This is known as delay discounting: larger, future rewards (e.g. saving for a future holiday) decrease in value with the increase in delay and thus people sometimes pick a smaller, sooner reward instead (e.g. needless shopping now). Using a delay discounting paradigm, this study examined whether autobiographical memories can enhance self-control. Study 1 was a replication study and found that cuing participants to retrieve positive, episodic memories enhanced self-control. This effect was only evident in one out of two delay discounting measures used, however. Building on these findings, Study 2 and 3 investigated whether the amount of episodic detail in specific autobiographical memories and a positive self-concept contribute to the effect of autobiographical memory enhancing self-control. The amount of episodic detail recalled was not related to self-control and results about a positive self-concept were inconclusive. Unexpectedly Study 3 also yielded a non-significant result for positive, episodic memory enhancing self-control. Participants in Study 3 were, however, significantly more tired than participants in Study 1, raising the possibility that they were less engaged in the task. This pattern of findings suggests that the effect of autobiographical memory on self-control is fragile, and is possibly influenced by factors such as participant fatigue. Potential reasons for the fragile effect and inconclusive results, and a potential way forward are also discussed.</p>

RESEARCH DEVELOPMENTS IN IMMUNOMODULATORY AND ANTIOXIDANT ACTIVITIES OF SHILAJATU

Ayurveda focuses upon preventing and promoting health along with curing of diseases in a systematic way. Ayurvedic literature has numerous single and compound plant-based, herbo-mineral, herbo-metallic formulations for general well being and in disease-specifi c conditions relating to geriatrics. Rasayana is a specialized branch that deals with the problems related to ageing and methods to counter the same. Shilajatu is one such compound, which has been used in Ayurveda for centuries as Rasayana and as a treatment for all the ailments of body. It is composed of mainly humic acid (60-80 %), and fulvic acid, oxygenated dibenzo- -pyrones and minerals in ionic form (20-40 %). This article is aimed at analyzing and disseminating the classical concepts and available published researches inferring antioxidant and immunomodulatory properties of Shilajatu. The review reveals that Shilajatu exhibits signifi cant antioxidant, immunomodulatory, chelating, cognitive and memory enhancing activities, thus it could prove to be a panacea for mankind.

Neuroprotective Potential of Synthetic Mono-Carbonyl Curcumin Analogs Assessed by Molecular Docking Studies

Cognitive decline in dementia is associated with deficiency of the cholinergic system. In this study, five mono-carbonyl curcumin analogs were synthesized, and on the basis of their promising in vitro anticholinesterase activities, they were further investigated for in vivo neuroprotective and memory enhancing effects in scopolamine-induced amnesia using elevated plus maze (EPM) and novel object recognition (NOR) behavioral mice models. The effects of the synthesized compounds on the cholinergic system involvement in the brain hippocampus and their binding mode in the active site of cholinesterases were also determined. Compound h2 (p < 0.001) and h3 (p < 0.001) significantly inhibited the cholinesterases and reversed the effects of scopolamine by significantly reducing TLT (p < 0.001) in EPM, while (p < 0.001) increased the time exploring the novel object. The % discrimination index (DI) was significantly increased (p < 0.001) in the novel object recognition test. The mechanism of cholinesterase inhibition was further validated through molecular docking study using MOE software. The results obtained from the in vitro, in vivo and ex vivo studies showed that the synthesized curcumin analogs exhibited significantly higher memory-enhancing potential, and h3 could be an effective neuroprotective agent. However, more study is suggested to explore its exact mechanism of action.

Effect of Water Extract of Mangosteen Pericarp on Donepezil Pharmacokinetics in Mice

The pharmacokinetic (PK) change in a drug by co-administered herbal products can alter the efficacy and toxicity. In the circumstances that herb–drug combinations have been increasingly attempted to alleviate Alzheimer’s disease (AD), the PK evaluation of herb–drug interaction (HDI) is necessary. The change in systemic exposure as well as target tissue distribution of the drug have been issued in HDIs. Recently, the memory-enhancing effects of water extract of mangosteen pericarp (WMP) has been reported, suggesting a potential for the combination of WMP and donepezil (DNP) for AD treatment. Thus, it was evaluated how WMP affects the PK change of donepezil, including systemic exposure and tissue distribution in mice after simultaneous oral administration of DNP with WMP. Firstly, co-treatment of WMP and donepezil showed a stronger inhibitory effect (by 23.0%) on the neurotoxicity induced by Aβ(25–35) in SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cells than donepezil alone, suggesting that the combination of WMP and donepezil may be more effective in moderating neurotoxicity than donepezil alone. In PK interaction, WMP increased donepezil concentration in the brain at 4 h (by 63.6%) after administration without affecting systemic exposure of donepezil. Taken together, our results suggest that WMP might be used in combination with DNP as a therapy for AD.