Curcumin for parkinson´s disease: potential therapeutic effects, molecular mechanisms, and nanoformulations to enhance its efficacy.

Parkinson's disease (PD) is one of the most prevalent neurodegenerative disorders worldwide. It is caused by the degeneration of dopaminergic neurons from the substantia nigra pars compacta. This neuronal loss causes the dopamine deficiency that leads to a series of functional changes within the basal ganglia, producing motor control abnormalities. L-DOPA is considered the gold standard for PD treatment, and it may alleviate its clinical manifestations for some time. However, its prolonged administration produces tolerance and several severe side effects, including dyskinesias and gastrointestinal disorders. Thus, there is an urgent need to find effective medications, and current trends have proposed some natural products as emerging options for this purpose. Concerning this, curcumin represents a promising bioactive compound with high therapeutic potential. Diverse studies in cellular and animal models have suggested that curcumin could be employed for the treatment of PD. Therefore, the objective of this narrative mini-review is to present an overview of the possible therapeutic effects of curcumin and the subjacent molecular mechanisms. Moreover, we describe several possible nanocarrier-based approaches to improve the bioavailability of curcumin and enhance its biological activity.

Therapeutic Applications of Terpenes on Inflammatory Diseases.

In the last decades, the search for natural products with biological applications as alternative treatments for several inflammatory diseases has increased. In this respect, terpenes are a family of organic compounds obtained mainly from plants and trees, such as tea, cannabis, thyme, and citrus fruits like lemon or mandarin. These molecules present attractive biological properties such as analgesic and anticonvulsant activities. Furthermore, several studies have demonstrated that certain terpenes could reduce inflammation symptoms by decreasing the release of pro-inflammatory cytokines for example, the nuclear transcription factor-kappa B, interleukin 1, and the tumor necrosis factor-alpha. Thus, due to various anti-inflammatory drugs provoking side effects, the search and analysis of novel therapeutics treatments are attractive. In this review, the analysis of terpenes' chemical structure and their mechanisms in anti-inflammatory functions are addressed. Additionally, we present a general analysis of recent investigations about their applications as an alternative treatment for inflammatory diseases. Furthermore, we focus on terpenes-based nanoformulations and employed dosages to offer a global perspective of the state-of-the-art.

Formulations of Curcumin Nanoparticles for Brain Diseases.

Curcumin is a polyphenol that is obtained from Curcuma longa and used in various areas, such as food and textiles. Curcumin has important anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties that allow it to be applied as treatment for several emerging pathologies. Remarkably, there are an elevated number of publications deriving from the terms "curcumin" and "curcumin brain diseases", which highlights the increasing impact of this polyphenol and the high number of study groups investigating their therapeutic actions. However, its lack of solubility in aqueous media, as well as its poor bioavailability in biological systems, represent limiting factors for its successful application. In this review article, the analysis of its chemical composition and the pivotal mechanisms for brain applications are addressed in a global manner. Furthermore, we emphasize the use of nanoparticles with curcumin and the benefits that have been reached as an example of the extensive advances in this area of health.