Moringa leaves have medicinal potential for treating Alzheimer’s sufferers which are often associated with the elderly
A collaboration between students from the Department of Chemistry and Medical Education at Brawijaya University conducted research on the optimization of natural ingredient extracts as drugs to reduce Alzheimer. The natural ingredient extract studied was Moringa leaves.
The research team consists of Adi Kurnia Soesantyo (Chemistry, FMIPA), Jonathan Linggadiputra (Chemistry, FMIPA), Gustav Dasa Sitompul (Physician Education, FK) and Farahiyah Sharfina Saputri (Physician Education, FK). They are under the guidance of Dr. Husnul Khotimah, S.Si, M.Kes developed an innovation of Moringa Leaf Extract (Moringa oleifera) Encapsulated Gold Nanoparticles (MO-AuNP) to be tested on a mouse model of Alzheimer’s Disease (AD). This research was funded by the Ministry of Education and Culture and Brawijaya University through the Student Creativity Program in Exact Research in 2023.
Alzheimer disease (AD) is one of the most common types of dementia suffered by people in the world, where sufferers of this disease will experience a progressive decline in cognitive function and behavior. Based on WHO reports, it is known that there are 55 million AD sufferers, of which more than 120 thousand have died and it is predicted that this will continue to increase to reach 10 million new cases per year. Meanwhile in Indonesia, in 2020 it is known that there are more than 1.3 million AD sufferers and it is predicted that this will increase to 3.8 million sufferers in 2048.
“Currently, Alzheimer’s drugs that are widely distributed on the market have their own side effects for patients who have complications, besides that, Alzheimer’s drugs are still not accessible to the entire community,” said Adi.
According to Adi, AD is mostly caused by a buildup of Amyloid Beta in the brain’s nervous system. This protein molecule is produced through proteolytic processing of the transmembrane protein, amyloid precursor protein (APP), by β- and γ-secretases.
“In this research, we created mouse Alzheimer’s model that was induced with Amyloid Beta, then we re-induced it routinely with our gold-encapsulated moringa extract drug. “Furthermore, we carried out several tests on mice, especially cognitive behavioral tests on mice,” said Adi
The research results showed that Moringa gold nanoparticle (MO-AuNP) extract would be more easily absorbed by the blood into the nervous system compared to extracts without being encapsulated in nano size. In addition, the innovative drug was proven to be able to improve the cognitive condition of mice and also reduce beta amyloid plaques. On the other hand, beside having a promising effect, through predictions of adsorption and drug toxicity levels, it is predicted that MO-AuNPs will have low drug toxicity conditions, but high absorption and protein binding to the Central Nervous System (CNS).
“This drug is currently in the development stage, there are still many evaluations and steps that must be taken, so that the drug is ready for use and can be used by the wider community. “We plan that the development of this drug will not only stop at the lab scale and in the PKM program, but will continue to be developed and optimized,” added Gustav as one of the researchers.
Farah, another research member, continued Gustav’s statement that this research is currently in the development stage and the hope is that it can become an alternative medicine that can be accessed by the whole community with minimal side effects.
“Even though it is still research and still in the development stage, it is hoped that later this drug will be further optimized and used by Indonesian people, because this drug will be a good alternative drug and will have minimal complications,” added Farahiyah.
With this research, it is hoped that it can facilitate treatment for Alzheimer’s sufferers in Indonesia and be a concrete form of contribution from Brawijaya University students to the current Alzheimer’s emergency response in Indonesia. [tim/sitirahma/ UB PR/ Trans. Iir]
