Review Article

A Review on Potential Mechanisms of Terminalia chebula in Alzheimer’s Disease

Table 2

Major effects of oxidative stress in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer’s disease.

Effects of ROSResultBiological evidence(s)

Protein oxidationIncreased protein carbonyl contentIncreased protein oxidation in frontal pole and occipital pole [113]
Decreased ratio of (MAL-6)/(W/S) in AD hippocampus and inferior parietal lobule, decreased the W/S ratio in in vitro models of human synaptosomes oxidation by ROS [114]

DNA oxidationDirect damage to DNA structure3-fold increase in mitochondrial DNA oxidation in parietal cortex in AD [115]
Increase in oxidative damage to nuclear DNA in AD compared with age-matched control subjects [116]
8-hydroxy-2-deoxyguanosine as a marker of DNA oxidation increases in AD [117]

Lipid peroxidationBrain phospholipid damageIncreased TBARS levels in AD in hippocampus, piriform cortex, and amygdala [118]
Increased lipid peroxidation of AD brain homogenates in vitro due to Fe-H2O2 [119]
Increased apoptosis in cultured DS and AD neurons inhibited by antioxidant enzymes [112, 120]
Decrease in PC, PE, phospholipid precursors, choline, and ethanolamine in hippocampus and inferior parietal lobule in AD [121]
Increased aldehydes as a cytotoxic agent in the brain of AD patients [122]

Antioxidant enzymesChanges in enzymes contentsElevated GSH-Px, GSSG-R, and CAT activity in hippocampus and amygdala in AD [118]
Many studies showed no elevation in enzyme activity [123, 124] or decrease in activity [125]

AGE formationPathological changes in protein structure and actionAccelerates aggregation of soluble nonfibrillar A and tau [126]

MAL-6: weakly immobilized protein bound spin label; W/S: strongly immobilized protein bound spin label; TBARS: thiobarbituric acid reactive substances; DS: Down syndrome; PC: phosphatidylcholine; PE: phosphatidylethanolamine; GSH-Px: glutathione peroxidase; GSSG-R: glutathione reductase; CAT: catalase; AGE: advanced glycation end products.