Alzheimer's Disease, Drosophila melanogaster and Polyphenols

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is an insidious neurological disorder that affects memory, one of the human brain's main cognitive functions. Around 5.2 million Americans currently have AD, and the number threatens to climb to 7 million by 2020. Our native country, Colombia, is no exception with an estimated 260,000 individuals to be affected by AD in 2020. A large, genetically-isolated community in Antioquia, Colombia, with early-onset familial Alzheimer's disease due to a presenilin-1 mutation is ideally suited for the study of molecular mechanisms of AD, and hence accelerate the discovery of new or alternative treatment approaches. In this regard, polyphenols--also known as polyhydroxyphenols--have shown antioxidant activity, gene regulation, metal chelator and anti-amyloidogenic aggregation effects. However, further in vitro and in vivo investigations are warranted to validate their use in clinical trials. Drosophila melanogaster is increasingly being used as a valid in vivo model of AD. Here, we summarise data published within the past 16 years (1998-2014) on the molecular biology of AD and the use of polyphenols in the fly to understand the molecular actions and feasibility of these compounds in the treatment of AD.