The central nervous system (CNS) appears to be especially vulnerable to oxidative stress which is believed to be one of the major factors in neural degeneration. The reactive oxygen species (ROS) which cause the oxidative stress, have been implicated in the etiology of several CNS malfunctions, including Parkinsonism, Huntington's Disease, Alzheimer's Disease and aging of brain. The formation and spread of ROS may be delayed or inhibited by antioxidants which may be of either endogenous or exogenous origin. A number of substances derived from plants have been shown to possess significant antioxidant activity and, therefore, have potential direct or indirect applications in the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases. In Phase I of our project, we have developed methods for the semipreparative extraction, quantitative determination and in vitro biological assays of five plan antioxidants, viz., beta-carotene from carrots, lutein from parsley, lycopene form tomato paste, and curcumin and turmerin from turmeric. In Phase II of the project, we propose to address the following issues: 1) to develop procedures for the commercial preparation of each of these compounds in pure form and in good yield, using the least expensive instrumentation and technology; 2) to extend the assay of biological activities of individual and mixtures (cocktails) of these antioxidants to in vivo conditions so as to complement the in vitro methods already developed in Phase I; and 3) to develop specific monoclonal antibodies against lutein, curcumin and turmerin.
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