Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common cause of dementia in older people. To date, no treatment for AD is available, and available medications only provide some symptomatic relief with no clear effect on the disease, which necessitates an intense search for therapeutic agents that can prevent or delay its progression. AD is a complex disorder associated with multiple pathological processes; thus to develop an effective therapy it is preferred to be multifunctional that targets multiple processes. Studies from our laboratory and others showed that extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO) have several protective effects against AD. Oleocanthal is a naturally occurring phenolic secoiridoid isolated from EVOO. Our results from in vitro and in vivo studies in wild type and AD models demonstrated the potential of oleocanthal to prevent and/or hold the progression of AD by targeting multiple pathological processes associated with the disease including amyloid-b (Ab) reduced clearance across the blood-brain barrier and degradation, Ab aggregation, astrogliosis, synaptic loss and neuroinflammation.  These findings suggest oleocanthal as a novel molecule that targets multiple mechanisms that play critical roles in the development or progression of AD.  Understanding oleocanthal mechanism of action will help optimizing its clinical use and future drug development by providing new drug targets and possible mechanisms involved in AD pathology.

Neuroprotective effects of the extra-virgin olive oil component oleocanthal in Alzheimer's disease

251st National Meeting (2016)

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