Targeting neurodegeneration in Alzheimer’s disease using natural products derived from Maya traditional medicine

................................................................................................................ ii RÉSUMÉ .................................................................................................................... iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .......................................................................................... v TABLE OF CONTENTS ............................................................................................. vi LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ...................................................................................... viii LIST OF FIGURES ..................................................................................................... ix LIST OF TABLES ....................................................................................................... x CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ................................................................................. 1 1.1 General introduction ......................................................................................... 1 1.2 Overview of AD ................................................................................................. 2 1.2.1 Disease characteristics .............................................................................. 2 1.2.2 Prevalence, incidence, and economic impact ............................................ 3 1.3 Molecular pathologies in AD ............................................................................. 7 1.3.1 Plaques and tangles .................................................................................. 7 1.3.2 Excitotoxicity ............................................................................................ 10 1.3.3 Aberrant lipid metabolism ........................................................................ 11 1.4 Current treatments and limitations .................................................................. 15 1.5 Traditional medicine as neurodegenerative therapeutics ............................... 16 1.6 Q’eqchi’ Maya medicinal plants relevant to AD .............................................. 16 1.7 Hypotheses and research objectives .............................................................. 17 CHAPTER 2: BEHAVIOURAL ASSESSMENT OF THE ROLE OF PAFR IN A MOUSE MODEL OF AD .......................................................................................... 19 2.