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Background: Neuroprotection is preserving neural function in various neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's, Huntington's, Parkinson's, and multiple sclerosis. Hesperidin, a flavanone glycoside in citrus fruits such as sweet oranges and lemons, possesses many biological effects, including neuroprotection., Objective: The study aims to explore the neuropharmacological mechanisms and therapeutic potential of hesperidin in the management of neurodegenerative disorders., Methods: It emphasizes comparative and clinical trial studies with a number of targets reviewed from the data available on PubMed, Science Direct, Clinicaltrails.gov, and from many reputed foundations., Results: Escalating clinical evidence has established the inhibitory effect of hesperidin in the management of neurodegenerative disorders. Neuroprotective potential of hesperidin is characterized by endogenous antioxidant defence functions, improvement of neural growth factors, antineuroinflammatory activity, and apoptotic pathways., Conclusion: The present study highlights the beneficial neuropharmacological potential of hesperidin, including anticonvulsant, antidepressant, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, memory, and locomotor enhancing activities., (Copyright© Bentham Science Publishers; For any queries, please email at epub@benthamscience.net.)

Huntington's disease (HD) is characterized by cognitive and psychiatric impairment caused by neuronal degeneration in the brain. Several studies have supported the hypothesis that oxidative stress is the main pathogenic factor in HD. The current study aims to determine the possible neuroprotective effects of nicotinamide on 3-nitropropionic acid (3-NP) induced HD. Male Wistar albino rats were divided into six groups. Group I was the vehicle-treated control, group II received 3-NP (20 mg/kg, intraperitoneally (i.p.) for 4 days, group III received nicotinamide (500 mg/kg, i.p.). The remaining groups received a combination of 3-NP plus nicotinamide 100, 300 or 500 mg/kg, i.p. respectively for 8 days. Afterward, the motor function and hind paw activity in the limb withdrawal were tested; rats were then euthanized for biochemical and histopathological analyses. Treatment of rats with 3-NP altered the motor function, elevated oxidative stress and caused significant histopathological changes in the brain. The treatment of rats with nicotinamide (100, 300 and 500 mg/kg) improved the motor function tested by locomotor activity test, movement analysis, and limb withdrawal test, which was associated with decreased oxidative stress markers (malondialdehyde, nitrites) and increased antioxidant enzyme (glutathione) levels. In addition, nicotinamide treatment decreased lactate dehydrogenase and prevented neuronal death in the striatal region. Our study, therefore, concludes that antioxidant drugs like nicotinamide might slow progression of clinical HD and may improve the motor functions in HD patients. To the best of our knowledge, this study is the first to explore the neuroprotective effects of nicotinamide on 3-NP-induced HD.

Intracerebroventricular (ICV) administration of streptozotocin (STZ) causes degeneration of hippocampal neurons through unknown mechanisms that further lead to dementia. On assumption that enzyme cyclooxygenase (COX), which catalyzes the production of pro-inflammatory prostaglandins, may be involved in ICV-STZ induced neurodegeneration, the present study was designed to investigate the effects of chronic treatment with selective inhibitor of COX-1, COX-2 or COX-3 on hippocampal neuronal density in ICV-STZ treated rats. Drugs were administered daily for 21 days, intraperitoneally, in sham control as well as ICV-STZ treated rats. After 21 days of treatment, rats were sacrificed and histological changes were observed in Cornus Ammonis (CA)-1 region of hippocampus at light microscopic level. Histopathological evaluation showed that valeryl salicylate (selective COX-1 inhibitor; 5 and 10 mg/kg; i.p.) and etoricoxib (selective COX-2 inhibitor; 5 and 10 mg/kg; i.p.) significantly increased the survival of hippocampus CA1 neurons in a dose dependent manner. On the contrary, phenacetin (selective COX-3 inhibitor; 20 and 40 mg/kg; i.p.) treatment had no effect on reduced neuronal density in ICV-STZ treated rats. In summary, these findings provide the first comprehensive description about the differential role of COX isozymes in ICV-STZ induced neuronal death in hippocampal CA1 regions of the rat brain., (Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Sporadic Alzheimer's disease is an age-related neurological and psychiatric disorder characterized by impaired energy metabolism. Oxidative stress and neuroinflammation have been implicated in pathophysiology of sporadic type of dementia. The central streptozotocin administration induces behavioral and biochemical alterations resembling those in sporadic type of Alzheimer's patients. The present study was designed to investigate the effects of chronic pretreatment with cyclooxygenase-1 or cyclooxygenase-2 or cyclooxygenase-3 selective inhibitors on cognitive dysfunction and oxidative stress markers in intracerebroventricular streptozotocin-treated rats. Chronic treatment with valeryl salicylate (5 and 10 mg/kg, i.p.) and etoricoxib (5 and 10 mg/kg, i.p.) on a daily basis for a period of 21 days, beginning 1 h prior to first intracerebroventricular streptozotocin injection, significantly improved streptozotocin-induced cognitive impairment. However, phenacetin (20 and 40 mg/kg, i.p.) failed to restore the cognitive performances of streptozotocin-treated rats. Besides, improving cognitive dysfunction, chronic administration of highly selective cyclooxygenase-1 and/or cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitors (valeryl salicylate and etoricoxib, respectively), but not cyclooxygenase-3 inhibitor (phenacetin), significantly reduced elevated malondialdehyde, nitrite levels, and restored reduced glutathione and superoxide dismutase levels. Furthermore, cyclooxygenase-1 and/or cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitors significantly increased the survival of pyramidal neurons. In summary, we demonstrate for the first time that both cyclooxygenase-1 and cyclooxygenase-2 isoforms, but not cyclooxygenase-3, are involved in the progression of neuronal damage in intracerebroventricular streptozotocin-treated rats.