AUTHOR=Cascella Marco , Bimonte Sabrina , Barbieri Antonio , Del Vecchio Vitale , Muzio Maria Rosaria , Vitale Andrea , Benincasa Giulio , Ferriello Anna Bella , Azzariti Amalia , Arra Claudio , Cuomo Arturo TITLE=Dissecting the Potential Roles of Nigella sativa and Its Constituent Thymoquinone on the Prevention and on the Progression of Alzheimer's Disease JOURNAL=Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience VOLUME=10 YEAR=2018 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/aging-neuroscience/articles/10.3389/fnagi.2018.00016 DOI=10.3389/fnagi.2018.00016 ISSN=1663-4365 ABSTRACT=

Several nutraceuticals have been investigated for preventing or retarding the progression of different neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer's disease (AD). Because Nigella sativa (NS) and its isolated compound thymoquinone (TQ) have significant anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory proprieties, they could represent effective neuroprotective agents. The purpose of this manuscript is to analyze and to recapitulate the results of in vitro and in vivo studies on the potential role of NS/TQ in AD's prevention and treatment. The level of evidence for each included animal study has been assessed by using a modified CAMARADES (Collaborative Approach to Meta-Analysis and Review of Animal Data from Experimental Studies) 10-item checklist. We used MEDLINE and EMBASE databases to screen relevant articles published up to July 2017. A manual search was also performed. The database search yielded 38 studies, of which 18 were included in this manuscript. Results from these approaches suggest that NS or TQ could represent an effective strategy against AD due to the balancing of oxidative processes and the binding to specific intracellular targets. The overall effects mainly regard the prevention of hippocampal pyramidal cell loss and the increased cognitive functions.