Flavonoids with Potential Anti-Amyloidogenic Effects as Therapeutic Drugs for Treating Alzheimer's Disease

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a central neurodegenerative disease generally among the elderly; it accounts for approximately 50-75% of total cases of dementia patients and poses a serious threat to physical and mental health. Currently available treatments for AD mainly relieves its symptoms, and effective therapy is urgently needed. Deposition of amyloid-beta protein in the brain is an early and invariant neuropathological feature of AD. Currently the main efforts in developing anti-AD drugs focus on anti-amyloidogenic therapeutics that prevent amyloid-beta production or aggregation and decrease the occurrence of neurotoxic events. The results of an increasing number of studies suggest that natural extracts and phytochemicals have a positive impact on brain aging. Flavonoids belong to the broad group of polyphenols and recent data indicate a favorable effect of flavonoids on brain aging. In this review, we collect relevant discoveries from 1999 to 2021, discuss 75 flavonoids that effectively influence AD pathogenesis, and summarize their functional mechanisms in detail. The data we have reviewed show that, these flavonoids belong to various subclasses, including flavone, flavanone, biflavone, etc. Our results provide a reference for further study of the effects of flavonoids on AD and the progress of anti-AD therapy.

Automated summary

Alzheimer's disease is a common neurodegenerative disorder among the elderly, with a lack of effective treatments currently available to halt its progression. Most therapies only focus on symptom relief, highlighting an urgent need for disease-modifying therapies. Studies have shown that certain natural extracts and phytochemicals have a positive impact on brain aging, particularly flavonoids.