boswellic acids as promising leads in drug development against alzheimer’s disease

Biological activity of boswellia extract (be) has been attributed to its main active ingredients; i.e. boswellic acids (bas). be/bas possess a promising therapeutic potential in neurodegenerative disorders; including alzheimer’s disease (ad). the multifactorial nature of ad pathophysiology necessitates the development of the disease-modifying agents (dma). recent multi-targeting approaches for the dmas development have brought more attention to the plant-derived compounds regarding their better human compatibility because of their biological origin. this review addresses the current knowledge on the anti-ad activity of be/bas based on the available in silico, in vitro, in vivo studies and clinical trials. the contribution of be/bas in inflammatory pathways, tau and β-amyloid proteins, microtubule functions, oxidative stress, cholinesterase and diabetes/insulin pathways involved in ad have been discussed. bas efficacy in different ad-related pathways has been confirmed in vitro and in vivo. they can be considered as valuable scaffold/lead compounds for multi-targeted dmas in anti-ad drug discovery and development.