Alzheimer’s disease is a common form of dementia. Drugs currently
available for treatment of Alzheimer’s disease are only symptomatic and act by
augmenting the level of acetylcholine. These drugs do not stop or delay the evolution
of disease and manifest specific adverse effects that limit their use. In this context, it is
crucial the development of new drugs that will target the causal agent of disease. Such
compounds that intervene at different levels in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer’s disease
were identified in plant extracts.
In this chapter, we propose an overview of some compounds that have anti amyloidogenic
activity of which the most important are: curcuminoids, ellagic acid,
gallic acid, salvianolic acid B, resveratrol and epicagallocatechin-3-gallate. Besides the
mechanism and biological actions, this chapter will present the vegetal products from
which the active compounds are extracted, methods of extraction, identification and
quantification. Selected techniques will be compared in terms of optimal conditions for
extraction. Moreover, methods for identification and quantification will be described in
terms of analytical conditions. Nature remains an important resource of active
molecules and a hope in treating Alzheimer’s disease.
Keywords: Alzheimer’s disease, Methods of extraction, Oxidative stress, Solvents,
Vegetal products.
