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Hindi Review Article, Int J Ment Health Psychiatry Vol: 1 Issue: 2
Exploring Zembrin Extract Derived from South African Plant, Sceletium tortuosum in Targeting cAMP-driven Phosphodiesterase (PDE) Signaling in Alzheimer’s Disease: Synthesis of Evidence
| Simon Chiu1,3, Hana Raheb1, Kristen Terpstra1,4, JoshVaughan1, Michel Farina-Woodbury2, Yves Bureau1,6, Zack Cernovsky1,3, Jirui Hou1, John Copen5, Mariwan Husni6, Vladimir Badmeav7, Ana Hategan8, Mujeeb Shad9, Zach Suntras6 and Nigel Gericke10 | |
| 1Lawson Health Research Institute, London, Ontario, N6A 4V2, Canada | |
| 2Department of Psychiatry, University of Puerto Rico, School of Medicine, San Juan, PR, USA | |
| 3Department of Psychiatry, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada | |
| 4University of Toronto Faculty of Nursing, Toronto, Ontario, Canada | |
| 5Department of Psychiatry, University British Columbia; University of Victoria Medical Campus, Victoria, BC Canada | |
| 6Northern Ontario Medical School, Thunderbay, Ontario, Canada | |
| 7Formerly Director of Medical and Scientific Affairs, PL Thomas & Co. Inc. Morristown, NJ, USA | |
| 8Department of Behavioral Neurosciences and Psychiatry, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada | |
| 9Department Psychiatry, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR USA | |
| 10Director, Medical and Scientific, HG & H Pharmaceuticals (Pty) Ltd., Bryanston, South Africa | |
| Corresponding author : Simon Chiu Lawson Health Research Institute, 268 Grosvenor Street, Lab FB125; Department of Psychiatry, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada E-mail: schiu3207@rogers.com |
|
| Received: May 27, 2015 Accepted: August 12, 2015 Published: August 17, 2015 | |
| Citation: Chiu S, Raheb H, Terpstra K, Vaughan J, Farina-Woodbury M, et al. (2015) Exploring Zembrin Extract Derived from South African Plant, Sceletium tortuosum in Targeting cAMP-driven Phosphodiesterase (PDE) Signaling in Alzheimer�s Disease: Synthesis of Evidence. Int J Ment Health Psychiatry 1:2. doi:10.4172/2471-4372.1000104 |
Abstract
Recently with the changing landscape of the aging population and the increase in incidence of Alzheimer’s disease (AD), there has been marked interest to develop strategies to prevent, delay and modify AD. We review the diverse lines of evidence in support of the emerging role of cAMP-mediated Phosphodiesterase (PDE) signalling with respect to aging, inflammation and depression. In view of the link of PDE to Epigenetic complex, targeting PDE through designing modulators and inhibitors of PDE may represent a novel approach in AD therapeutics. We review critically the translational studies of the proprietary Zembrin extract harvested and processed from the South African plant, Sceletium tortuosum, highlighting the dual property of Zembrin in targeting coupling of PDE and serotonin signaling mechanisms in vitro and in vivo models of AD and cognition. The promising clinical findings of Zembrin in cognition suggest that Zembrin extract may merit randomized controlled trials in AD to establish the efficacy and safety in AD.
