The Effects of Genistein on Aging

Introduction: Nowadays, due to the increase in life expectancy, one of the main goals of scientific research is to counteract the onset of age-related diseases. Genistein is one of the several non-pharmacological agents with the capacity to be used as geroprotector, i.e. to promote health span. It is an isoflavone, and its distribution in the plant kingdom is restricted to the Leguminosae.Material and methods: We searched for all articles published in English and indexed in Medline from January ۲۰۰۰ to December ۲۰۲۲. We included animal models and RCTs for Genistein in age-related diseases. Our search criteria were “[Genistein (Title/Abstract)] AND [Alzheimer’s disease (Title/Abstract) OR Alzheimer disease (Title/Abstract)]” OR “[Genistein (Title/Abstract)] AND “[Parkinson disease (Title/Abstract)] OR “[Genistein (Title/Abstract)] AND “[Demntia (Title/Abstract)] OR “[Genistein (Title/Abstract)] AND “[aging-related diseases (Title/Abstract)] Then the literature was screened and the data were extracted.Results: Genistein has been reported to have beneficial properties on age-related diseases. All these effects of genistein have been described both in cells and animal models. Genistein exhibits antioxidant activity against Aβ peptide-induced oxidative stress in various models, by decreasing the production of ROS. Genistein mediates this effect mainly through activation of the Nrf۲/HO-۱(nuclear factor erythroid ۲/heme oxygenase-۱) pathway.Conclusion: These results highlight the fact that aspects of executive function are differentially sensitive to both genistein exposure and aging and suggest that altered prefrontal dopamine function could potentially play a role in mediating these effects.

Keywords:

Ageing-related diseases , Alzheimer’s disease , Parkinson disease , Dementia , Herbal medicines