Aspirin and salicylic acid derivatives can be effective in a number of neurodegenerative diseases.
This is reported by US researchers on the pages of the online magazine PLOS One.
Medicinal plants throughout human history have been used against all sorts of diseases.
Until now, in some regions of the world, phytotherapy remains the basis of medicine, and herbs and dental medicines are the most common and available means.
Even in the United States, about 50% of all pharmaceuticals developed and approved by the FDA over the past 20 years are either phytopreparations or synthetic derivatives of natural substances, predominantly plant.
Salicylic acid is one of the first examples that come to mind. The willow bark, which contains salicylic acid, has long been used in Europe and Asia for rheumatism and other inflammatory diseases. Today we know what substance is responsible for the anti-inflammatory properties of willow, but in the past centuries our ancestors simply drank and applied to the sore spot her broths.
More than a century has passed since the moment when aspirin-acetylsalicylic acid was obtained from salicylic acid, an excellent antipyretic agent. Not so long ago, scientists began to use antiplatelet properties of aspirin to prevent the formation of thrombi. Even later, its anti-cancer properties. In modern America, 80 million tablets of aspirin are consumed every day, mainly for the prevention of myocardial infarction, stroke, and also certain cancers.
The leading author of the latest study, Professor Daniel Klessig, a researcher at the Boise Thomson Institute, for several years studied salicylic acid and its derivatives. Recently, he discovered a completely unexpected property of salicylates, which could reverse the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's or Huntington's disease.
It turned out that salicylates are able to bind glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH), an enzyme that is assigned not the least role in the development of neurodegenerative diseases. The enzyme GAPDH is the central link in the metabolism of glucose, and also takes part in some cellular processes inside neurons.
Oxidative stress, which is caused by oxygen deficiency in the brain, can trigger the process of neurodegeneration. It is accompanied by the release of a large number of free radicals and other active substances, the medium becomes unfavorable for the life of nerve cells.
Under these conditions, the GAPDH enzyme is transformed and penetrates into the cell nucleus, leading to the death of neurons. It is this link that is affected by the antiparkinsonian drug deprenyl (deprenyl), which binds GAPHD and prevents it from penetrating into the nuclei of neurons.
So where is salicylic acid? It turned out that she does the same with GAPHD.
This was clarified by Professor Klessga during experiments with salicylates in vitro: after salicylic acid reacts with this enzyme, it is not able to affect the cell nucleus more. This effect has both natural salicylic acid, derived from licorice root, and some of its synthetic derivatives.
Earlier this year, Klessig's group discovered that salicylic acid binds another protein, the High Mobility Group Box 1 (HMGB1), which causes inflammation and is associated with diseases such as atherosclerosis, sepsis, lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, and certain cancers.
Even low concentrations of salicylic acid and its derivatives block the activity of this protein, allowing you to take control of inflammation.
"We are only halfway to understanding the role of salicylates in the human body. The ability of these substances to suppress GAPDH and HMGB1 - this alone provides simply unprecedented opportunities for the treatment and prevention of neurodegenerative, autoimmune cancer, cardiovascular diseases, "said Professor Klessig.
medbe. en.
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