ABSTRACT
Neuroinammation is a normal defence mechanism aimed at protecting the central nervous system (CNS) against insults such as infection, injury, or disease. In most cases, it constitutes a benecial process that resolves on its own once the threat has been eliminated and homeostasis has been restored (Glass et al. 2010). However, sustained neuroinammatory processes may contribute to the cascade of events leading to the progressive neuronal damage observed in Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease (McGeer and McGeer 2003; Hirsch et al. 2005), and also with neuronal injury associated with stroke (Zheng et al. 2003). In support of this, recent observations suggest that the use of nonsteroidal anti-inammatory drugs, such as ibuprofen, may delay or even prevent the onset of neurodegenerative disorders, such as Parkinson’s disease (Casper et al. 2000; Chen et al. 2003). The majority of existing drug treatments for neurodegenerative disorders does not prevent the underlying degeneration of neurons, and consequently, there is a desire to develop alternative therapies capable of preventing the progressive loss of specic neuronal populations (Legos et al. 2002; Narayan et al. 2002). Since the neuropathology of
16.1 Introduction ................................................................................................ 363 16.2 Components of the Neuroinammatory Cascade.......................................364 16.3 Brain Uptake and Cellular Interactions ...................................................... 367
16.3.1 Flavonoid Bioavailability to the Brain ......................................... 368 16.3.2 Flavonoid Interactions with Cellular Signaling ............................ 370
16.4 Inhibition of Neuroinammation by Flavonoids ........................................ 371 16.4.1 Flavones ........................................................................................ 372 16.4.2 Flavonols ....................................................................................... 379 16.4.3 Isoavones ....................................................................................380 16.4.4 Flavan-3-ols .................................................................................. 381 16.4.5 Flavanones .................................................................................... 381 16.4.6 Anthocyanins ................................................................................ 382 16.4.7 Other Flavonoid-Rich Foods ........................................................ 382
16.5 Summary .................................................................................................... 382 References .............................................................................................................. 383
many neurodegenerative diseases has been linked to increases in brain oxidative stress (Halliwell 2006), historically, strong efforts have been directed at exploring antioxidant strategies to combat neuronal damage.
