Author(s): Chun Lin Lee and Tzu Ming Pan
Alzheimer's disease (AD) and Parkinson’s disease (PD), which are senile neurodegenerative diseases, have become more common in recent year. An important cause for AD is currently the deposition of amyloid β (Aβ) in the brain, leading to severe oxidative stress and inflammation, as well as neuronal death and memory damage in AD patients. PD is a chronic degeneration of the central nervous system that mainly affects the motor system. Its symptoms usually appear gradually, and are most obviously tremors, body stiffness, slowed movement, and gait abnormality during early stage; though the mechanism for the death of dopaminergic neurons is not yet completely understood, oxidative stress has been shown to be a very important factor in triggering the development of PD in many human and animal studies. As has been revealed in past research, fermented products of Monascus and their extracts can effectively improve the course of AD and PD, possessing significant preventative and alleviating effects. The main effectors are confirmed to be monascin and ankaflavin for AD treatment, and dimerumic acid and deferricoprogen for PD treatment. This review, therefore, focuses on the analysis and comprehensive discussion of these four active components, for an overall understanding of their role in the AD and PD improvement function of Monascus fermented products.
