Table 1.
Compounds targeting mitochondria in the treatment of ischemia, PD, and AD.
| Compounds | Mechanisms of action | Disorders | Therapeutic effects | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cyclosporine A | Inhibiting MPTP | Ischemia-caused acute brain injury | Pre-clinical studies | Sullivan et al., 2000; Uchino, 2002 |
| Tirilazad mesylate | Lipid peroxidation inhibitor | Ischemia-caused brain injury | Effective in pre-clinical models; showing no effective in clinical studies | Park and Hall, 1994; Fleishaker et al., 1995 |
| Edaravone | Free radical scavenger | Ischemia-caused brain injury | Exhibited clinical improvements in acute ischemic stroke patients | Edaravone Acute Infarction Study Group, 2003 |
| Lubeluzole | Reduces NO levels and subsequent ONOO- production | Ischemia-caused brain injury | Effective in pre-clinical models; showing no effective in clinical studies | De Ryck et al., 1996; Diener et al., 1996 |
| DPQ | Inhibiting PARP-1 | Ischemia-caused brain injury | Pre-clinical studies; partial protection against the pathological process | Soane et al., 2007 |
| Mdivi-1 | Inhibitor of Drp-1 | Ischemia-caused brain injury | Pre-clinical studies; controversial effect | Baek et al., 2017 |
| 3-MA | Inhibiting autophagy/mitophagy | Ischemia-caused brain injury | Pre-clinical studies; controversial effect | Zhang X. et al., 2013; Zuo et al., 2014 |
| Rapamycin | Autophagy/mitophgy inducer through suppressing mTOR | Ischemia-caused brain injury | Pre-clinical studies | Li et al., 2014 |
| Selegiline | Inhibiting monoamine oxidase-B (MAO-B) and antioxidant | Parkinson’s disease | Beneficial effect and significantly delaying the time of using levodopa | Koller et al., 1993 |
| Rasagiline | MAO-B inhibitor | Parkinson’s disease | Change the Unified Parkinson Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS) modestly | Smith et al., 2015 |
| N-acetylcysteine (NAC) | Antioxidant | Parkinson’s disease | Improved UPDRS moderately | Monti et al., 2016 |
| Mitoquinone | Mitochondrial targeted antioxidant | Parkinson’s disease | Protected dopaminergic neurons in a 6-OHDA-induced model of PD; but no effective in clinical studies | Snow et al., 2010; Liu and Wang, 2014; Xi et al., 2018 |
| Ubiquinone | Antioxidant | Parkinson’s disease | Pre-clinical studies | Koller et al., 1993 |
| Creatine | Antioxidant | Parkinson’s disease | Pre-clinical studies | Kieburtz et al., 2015 |
| Curcumin | Antioxidant | Alzheimer’s disease | Pre-clinical studies | Mecocci and Polidori, 2012; Zhao and Zhao, 2013 |
| Mitoquinone | Mitochondria-targeted antioxidant | Alzheimer’s disease | Pre-clinical studies | Mecocci and Polidori, 2012; Zhao and Zhao, 2013 |
| CoQ10/Ubisol-Q10 | Antioxidants | Alzheimer’s disease | Pre-clinical studies | McManus et al., 2011; Muthukumaran et al., 2018 |
| Idebenone | An analog of CoQ10 | Alzheimer’s disease | Effective in clinical trails | Senin et al., 1992; Weyer et al., 1997 |
| Nicotinamide riboside (NR) | NAD+ precursors | Alzheimer’s disease | Pre-clinical studies | Wang et al., 2016; Hou et al., 2018 |
| Nicotinamide mononucleotide (NMN) | NAD+ precursors | Alzheimer’s disease | Pre-clinical studies | Wang et al., 2016; Hou et al., 2018 |
| Rapamycin | Autophagy/mitophgy inducer through suppressing mTOR | Alzheimer’s disease | Pre-clinical studies | Spilman et al., 2010; Caccamo et al., 2013 |
| Trehalose | mTOR-independent autophagy/mitophgy inducer | Alzheimer’s disease | Pre-clinical studies | Spilman et al., 2010; Caccamo et al., 2013 |
| 2, 4- Dinitrophenol (DNP) | Mitochondrial uncoupling agents | Alzheimer’s disease | Pre-clinical studies | Geisler et al., 2017 |