Epicatechin and Alzheimers

07 August 2009

Epicatechin protects brain cells from damage...

Dr Williams said: "We have found epicatechin protects brain cells from damage through a mechanism unrelated to its antioxidant activity. It has shown in laboratory tests it can also reduce some aspects of Alzheimer's disease pathology."

While there has been a major focus on their antioxidant properties there is an emerging view that flavonoids and their in vivo metabolites, do not act simply as conventional hydrogen-donating antioxidants but may have modulatory actions at protein kinase and lipid kinase signalling pathways and that this may explain their cytoprotective and anti-inflammatory actions.

see:Report from the British Pharmacological Society's Summer Meeting in Edinburgh

Also see: Disease Pathology video...