Fakhri, SajadYosifova Aneva, InaFarzaei, Mohammad HoseinSobarzo Sánchez, Eduardo Marcelo2020-05-202020-05-202019Fakhri, S., Yosifova Aneva, I., Farzaei, M.H., Sobarzo-Sánchez, E. (2019). The neuroprotective effects of astaxanthin: therapeutic targets and clinical perspective. Molecules 24(14), 2640; doi: 10.3390/molecules24142640http://hdl.handle.net/10347/22470As the leading causes of human disability and mortality, neurological diseases affect millions of people worldwide and are on the rise. Although the general roles of several signaling pathways in the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative disorders have so far been identified, the exact pathophysiology of neuronal disorders and their effective treatments have not yet been precisely elucidated. This requires multi-target treatments, which should simultaneously attenuate neuronal inflammation, oxidative stress, and apoptosis. In this regard, astaxanthin (AST) has gained growing interest as a multi-target pharmacological agent against neurological disorders including Parkinson’s disease (PD), Alzheimer’s disease (AD), brain and spinal cord injuries, neuropathic pain (NP), aging, depression, and autism. The present review highlights the neuroprotective effects of AST mainly based on its anti-inflammatory, antioxidative, and anti-apoptotic properties that underlies its pharmacological mechanisms of action to tackle neurodegeneration. The need to develop novel AST delivery systems, including nanoformulations, targeted therapy, and beyond, is also consideredeng© 2019 by the authors. Open Access. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Neurodegenerative diseasesAstaxanthinPharmacologyNeuroprotective agentOxidative stressNeuroinflammationApoptosisDrug delivery systemjournal article10.3390/molecules241426401420-3049open access