Palm Oil Tocotrienols and Its Potential Against Alzheimer’s disease and Brain Ischemia

Abstract

Many neurodegenerative disorders and syndromes are associated with an excessive generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and oxidative stress. In the past few years, the pathophysiological role of ROS has been intensively studied in in-vitro and in vivo models of chronic neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and stroke. In AD, oxidative neuronal cell dysfunction and cell death caused by protofibrils and aggregates of the AD-associated amyloid β protein (Aβ) may causally contribute to pathogenesis and progression. ROS and reactive nitrogen species also take part in the complex cascade of events and the detrimental effects occuring during ischemia and reperfusion in stroke. Lately tocotrienols have gained increasing attention as its therapeutic potential against neurodegenerative disorders was investigated. Compared to tocopherols, recent evidences have shown that tocotrienols are more potent antioxidant. In this review, the potential of tocotrienols to provide protection against selected neurodegenerative disorders is discussed.