Abstract
Natural products and their derivatives represent the most consistently successful
source of drug leads. Terpenoids, a structurally diverse group, are secondary metabolites
widely distributed in nature, endowed with a wide range of biological activities such
as antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, antitumoral, or neuroprotective effects, which
consolidate their therapeutic value. During the last decades, and taking into consideration
the prevalence of aging-related diseases, research activity into the neuroprotective
effects of these types of compounds has increased enormously. Several signaling pathways
involved in neuroprotection are targets of their mechanism of action and mediate their
pleiotropic protective activity in neuronal cell damage. In the present review, molecular
basis of the neuroprotection exerted by terpenoids is presented, focusing on preclinical
evidence of the therapeutic potential of diterpenoids and triterpenoids on neurodegenerative
disorders. By acting on diverse mechanisms simultaneously, terpenoids have been emphasized
as promising multitarget agents.
Key words
antioxidant - radical scavenging - diterpenoids - triterpenoids - neuroprotection
- molecular targets - activities