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Luiz Eduardo Mateus Brandão [1] and Diana Aline Morais Ferreira Nôga [1] and Aline Lima Dierschnabel [1] and Clarissa Loureiro das Chagas Campêlo [1] and Ywlliane da Silva Rodrigues Meurer [1] and Ramón Hypolito Lima [1] and Rovena Clara Galvão Januário Engelberth [1] and Jeferson Souza Cavalcante [1] and Clésio Andrade Lima [2] and Murilo Marchioro [2] and Charles dos Santos Estevam [2] and José Ronaldo Santos [2] and Regina Helena Silva [3] and Alessandra Mussi Ribeiro [4]

Academic Editor: Gunhyuk Park

1, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, RN, Brazil, ufrn.br

2, Universidade Federal de Sergipe, São Cristóvão, SE, Brazil, ufs.br

3, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil, unifesp.br

4, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, Santos, SP, Brazil, unifesp.br

Received Mar 24, 2017; Accepted Jun 20, 2017

This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

1. Introduction

The genus Passiflora (Passifloraceae) comprises species noted by their edible fruits, exotic flowers, and use in folk medicine for sedative, anxiolytic, diuretic, and analgesic effects [1–5]. The phytochemical profile of the species of this genus is complex. Phenols, cyanogenic glycosides, alkaloids, and flavonoids can be found in their composition and can be responsible for their pharmacological effects [2]. These compounds could also be related to biological activities of these plants such as anti-inflammatory [6], sedative [7], antihyperglycemic [8], antiulcer [9], anxiolytic [10–13], and antioxidant [9, 14–16] actions. David and colleagues [17] reported higher antioxidant action and lower toxicity of the Passiflora cincinnata methanolic extract when compared to other plants from Brazilian Caatinga. In addition, Wondracek and colleagues [18] detected carotenoids compounds such as neoxanthin, trans-violaxanthin, antheraxanthin, lutein, zeaxanthin, and trans-β-carotene in the P. cincinnata fruit pulp. In this respect, carotenoids can modulate intracellular signaling cascades associated with inflammatory cytokines and antioxidant enzymes production. These modulatory activities lead to antioxidant, antiapoptotic, and anti-inflammatory effects that may represent an important improvement in the treatment of neurodegenerative disorders [19].

Neurodegenerative disorders such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases show severe social and economic challenges, with high impact on public health systems around the world. PD is a progressive and degenerative neurological...

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