Bioactive Nutraceuticals and Dietary Supplements in Neurological and Brain DiseasePrevention and Therapy
2015, Pages 261–279
Chapter 28 – The Role of Caffeine in Neurodegenerative Diseases: Possible Genetic and Cellular Signaling Mechanisms
Abstract
Environmental
factors can contribute to the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative
diseases (ND), including Alzheimer’s disease (AD), Parkinson’s disease
(PD), and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). There is evidence of an
inverse correlation between coffee intake and ND risk. Coffee contains
numerous components that may also be neuroprotective. Caffeine has
multiple targets in the brain—for example, adenosine, ryanodine, and
γ-aminobutyric acid receptors and cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterase
isoenzymes. Caffeine’s action on adenosine A2A receptors may
explain the psychomotor stimulant effect, mediated by dopaminergic
mechanisms. Studies have provided the opportunity to determine which
proteins link caffeine to ALS pathology, including brain-derived
neurotrophic factor, poly(ADP-ribose) polymerases, vascular endothelial
growth factor, and tyrosine hydroxylase. Caffeine also exerts its
effects on ALS through nongenomic factors, including glutamate, Na+-K+-ATPase,
the mammalian family of mitogen-activated protein kinases,
prostaglandins and cyclooxygenase-2, and reactive oxygen species.
Caffeine may play a role in ND, but further investigation of caffeine in
ND is needed.
Keywords
- caffeine;
- coffee;
- neurodegenerative diseases;
- Alzheimer’s disease;
- Parkinson’s disease;
- amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
