Lucknow: In a significant scientific breakthrough, the Biogerontology and Neurobiology Laboratory at the University of Lucknow has identified a plant-derived compound that could contribute to future treatments for Alzheimer’s disease — the world’s leading cause of dementia.
The study spotlights hydroxychavicol, a natural molecule found in Piper betle (betel leaf), commonly chewed across India. Using advanced computational tools, researchers mapped the compound’s interaction with human proteins linked to Alzheimer’s pathology, narrowing down its influence to 88 overlapping genes associated with both hydroxychavicol and the disease.
Three major proteins — COMT, HSP90AA1 and GAPDH — emerged as core “hub” targets. These proteins play crucial roles in brain communication, tau and amyloid processing, and overall neuronal health. Molecular docking and long-timescale simulations demonstrated that hydroxychavicol binds strongly and stably to these targets, indicating its potential to modulate multiple disease-related pathways simultaneously.
The compound also showed favourable drug-like characteristics, including good predicted absorption, suggesting it may be suitable for oral delivery. This is particularly noteworthy as Alzheimer’s involves several overlapping processes — including protein aggregation, inflammation and oxidative stress — often limiting the effectiveness of single-target drugs.
Lead researcher Dr. Nitish Rai, however, cautioned that these findings are preliminary and based solely on computational analysis. Extensive laboratory experiments and clinical trials will be required before considering hydroxychavicol as a therapeutic option. Still, he noted that the results offer a strong foundation for further research into this accessible, plant-based molecule as a future multi-target therapy for Alzheimer’s disease.
