Natural products proposed for the management of Huntington’s disease (HD): a comprehensive review

Abstract

Huntington's disease (HD), a neurodegenerative disease, typically begins in the prime of adulthood, followed by a gradual onset of specific mental abnormalities and cognitive and physical impairment. To the best of our knowledge, no medication exists to totally stop the progression of HD. Among numerous therapy techniques, extensive literature reviews have confirmed the medicinal importance of natural products in HD experimental models. This review provides a literature survey of natural compounds and medicinal plants used as neuroprotective agents against HD. Relevant studies were found in a variety of scientific databases, including PubMed, ScienceDirect, Scopus, and Google Scholar. Overall, natural products provided various levels of neuroprotection in preclinical HD investigations through antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities, mitochondrial function maintenance, apoptosis suppression, and autophagy induction. Plants such as Bacopa monnieri, Ginkgo biloba, Panax ginseng, and Withaniasomnifera were identified as the most promising anti-HD possibilities, with several of them known as CNS-active medicines. Curcumin, epigallocatechin-gallate, ginsenosides, kaempferol, naringin, and resveratrol were identified as anti-HD compounds, some of which are well recognized neuroprotectants. Further study is required to assess the therapeutic efficacy of new herbal extracts in HD animals.