Ferulic acid and Alzheimer’s disease: promises and pitfalls.

Oxidative stress plays an important role in both initiation and progression of neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer and Parkinson. Therefore, much attention has been paid to antioxidants for developing therapeutic strategies for the neurodegenerative diseases. However, as serious adverse effects are related to synthetic antioxidants, recent research has been focused on natural products especially phenolic antioxidants. In the present article, we critically review the available literature related to the beneficial role of ferulic acid on Alzheimer's disease, since it is a natural antioxidant which is widely found in different fruits and vegetables. We also provide some information about sources, chemical structure, bioavailability and clinical impacts of ferulic acid.