The Role of Mucuna pruriens and Withania Somnifera in the Neuroprotection and Treatment of Parkinson’s disease

The fundamental purpose in treating patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD) is dual (i) to increase the dopamine content in striatum (ii) to prevent further ventral midbrain degeneration of the surviving dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra pars compacta (SNpc) region. Currently most of the PD drugs like levodopa medication, monoamine oxidase B inhibitor (MAO-B), dopamine agonist and catechol-O-methyl transferase (COMT) inhibitor contribute to the former and provide only symptomatic relief. Although compounds like Levodopa (L-DOPA) recover dopamine content in the striatum but their long-term usage causes progressive decrease in drug response, motor fluctuations, dyskinesias and ultimately causes drug-induced toxicity. Additionally, these drugs fail to prevent the progressive degeneration of dopaminergic neurons in the SNpc of midbrain region in PD. Thus this existing drug has shifted the focus onto additional alternative therapeutic approaches that involve Ayurvedic natural products that could provide independent therapy or offer neuroprotective support to the dopaminergic neurons in the SNpc region. The current review describes the neuroprotective and therapeutic utility of such Ayurvedic natural products including herbal extracts like Mucuna pruriens (Mp) and Withania somnifera (Ws) in isolation or in combination, with potential application in PD