Exploitation of marine molecules to manage Alzheimer’s disease

This article belongs to the Special Issue Innovative Extraction Technology Aiming the Screening and Discovery of Bio-Active Marine Compounds.

Neurodegenerative diseases are sociosanitary challenges of today, as a result of increased average life expectancy, with Alzheimer’s disease being one of the most prevalent. This pathology is characterized by brain impairment linked to a neurodegenerative process culminating in cognitive decline and behavioral disorders. Though the etiology of this pathology is still unknown, it is usually associated with the appearance of senile plaques and neurofibrillary tangles. The most used prophylaxis relies on anticholinesterase drugs and NMDA receptor antagonists, whose main action is to relieve symptoms and not to treat or prevent the disease. Currently, the scientific community is gathering efforts to disclose new natural compounds effective against Alzheimer’s disease and other neurodegenerative pathologies. Marine natural products have been shown to be promising candidates, and some have been proven to exert a high neuroprotection effect, constituting a large reservoir of potential drugs and nutraceutical agents. The present article attempts to describe the processes of extraction and isolation of bioactive compounds derived from sponges, algae, marine bacteria, invertebrates, crustaceans, and tunicates as drug candidates against AD, with a focus on the success of pharmacological activity in the process of finding new and effective drug compounds.

P.O. would like to thank the Juan de la Cierva program of the Spanish Government (Ref. IJCI-2016-27774). M.S. would like to thank Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) for research funding via the VALTOX project under UIDB/04292/2020 and UID/MULTI/04046/2019 and was also supported by investigation contract under AQUA-PROSPECT project (MAR-02.02.01-FEAMP-0005).

Peer reviewed