Ferulic Acid – a Comprehensive Pharmacology of an Important Bioflavonoid

Ferulic acid (4-hydroxy-3-methoxycinnamic acid) is an phenolic compound and an antioxidant found in many staple foods, such as fruits, vegetables, cereals, coffee and in plant constituent exhibiting a wide range of therapeutic effects such as anticancer, antidiabetic, cardio protective and neuroprotective, anti-inflammatory activity. The present review summarizes the most recent literature on FA including its pharmacological actions, preclinical and clinical studies, reported mechanisms of actions, pharmacokinetic profile, precautions and safety parameters and its interaction with other drugs and plasma protein. The article also deals with the latest research updates as well as avenues for further research to elucidate the positive effects of this widespread phenolic compound for a better understanding of its potential applications in health and disease. It may subsequently help in the development and design of suitable pharmacoactive compounds. INTRODUCTION: There has been an emerging interest in the use of naturally occurring antioxidants derived from dietary components for their potential therapeutic usage in minimizing the risk of a wide range of ailments including cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes, neurodegenerative diseases, cataracts, age-related functional decline, endothelial dysfunction, and cellular proliferation. Ferulic Acid is one of the most abundant phenolics arising from the metabolism of phenylalanine and tyrosine by Shikimate pathway and distributed in plants especially cereals, fruits and vegetables, with a close resemblance to cinnamic acid. FA is a natural polyphenol extracted from rice bran that is approved as a food additive in Japan. FA occurs most frequently as ester cross-links with polysaccharides in the cell wall, e.g. as arabinoglycans in grasses, pectin in spinach and sugar beet and xyloglycans in bamboo and it is difficult to facilitate its release from the polysaccharides and its subsequent purification. The molecular structure of Ferulic Acid is shown in fig. 1. FIG. 1: MOLECULAR STRUCTURE OF FERULIC ACID Pharmacological activity: In vitro: Antioxidant activity: Superoxide anion radical (SAR) scavenging activity of FA (at 60 and 120 μM) was first observed in murine peritoneal macrophages with SAR induced by phorbol-12-myristate-13-acetate. In these study subsequently showed that FA upregulated the SAR scavenging activity induced by benzoyl peroxide of cultured murine peritoneal macrophages by measuring the proportion of formazan-positive cells .