A team of scientists in Korea has identified ragweed compounds that could help neurons survive in the presence of Alzheimer’s disease peptides.
The common ragweed (Ambrosia artemisiifolia). Image credit: Pere Igor / CC BY-SA 3.0.
Alzheimer’s disease is a neurodegenerative disorder that features declines of judgment, cognition, memory, and behavior. This disease is the leading cause of dementia, becoming one of the largest public health concerns.
Currently, 30 million people suffer from Alzheimer’s disease. Owing to the steady growth of the aging population, an increasing prevalence of dementia is expected in both developing and developed countries.
The accumulation of amyloid beta (Aβ) plaques is thought to be one of the major causes of Alzheimer’s disease.
Unfortunately, the five drugs currently approved for Alzheimer’s treatment only delay disease progression for a short time.
“When we screened 300 natural plant extracts for activity against Alzheimer’s in a preliminary study, we found a surprising candidate — the common ragweed (Ambrosia artemisiifolia),” said Dr. Won Keun Oh of Seoul National University and colleagues.
The researchers decided to isolate and characterize the structures of ragweed compounds responsible for this neuroprotective activity.
They isolated 14 compounds from whole ragweed plants that appeared to protect neurons from Aβ-induced toxicity.
They determined the structures of the compounds with nuclear magnetic resonance, mass spectrometry and other analytical techniques.
Seven of the chemicals, including terpenoids and spermidine conjugates, had been described previously, but the remainder were newly identified terpenoids.
“When we added the two most active new compounds to a lab dish that contained neurons producing Aβ, about 20% more cells survived than without treatment,” the study authors said.
The results appear in the Journal of Natural Products.
_____
Jin-Pyo An et al. Eudesmane Glycosides from Ambrosia artemisiifolia (Common Ragweed) as Potential Neuroprotective Agents. J. Nat. Prod, published online April 22, 2019; doi: 10.1021/acs.jnatprod.8b00841
