Thymoquinone is one of the main active components of the essential oil from black cumin ( Nigella sativa ) seeds. Thymoquinone exhibits a wide range of pharmacological activities, including neuroprotective action demonstrated in the models of brain ischemia/reperfusion, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases, and traumatic brain injury. The neuroprotective effect of thymoquinone is mediated via inhibition of lipid peroxidation, downregulation of proinflammatory cytokines, maintenance of mitochondrial membrane potential, and prevention of apoptosis through inhibition of caspases-3, -8, and -9. Thymoquinone-based mitochondria-targeted antioxidants are accumulated in the mitochondria and exhibit neuroprotec-tive properties in nanomolar concentrations. Thymoquinone reduces the negative effects of acute and chronic forms of brain pathologies. The mechanisms of the pharmacological action of thymoquinone and its chemical derivatives require more comprehensive studying. In this paper, we formulated the prospects of application of thymoquinone and thymoquinone-based drugs in the therapy of neurodegenerative diseases.

中文翻译：

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百里醌在急性和慢性脑病理学中作为潜在的神经保护剂

百里醌是黑孜然 (Nigella sativa) 种子精油的主要活性成分之一。百里醌具有广泛的药理活性，包括在脑缺血/再灌注、阿尔茨海默病和帕金森病以及创伤性脑损伤模型中显示出的神经保护作用。胸腺醌的神经保护作用是通过抑制脂质过氧化、下调促炎细胞因子、维持线粒体膜电位以及通过抑制 caspase-3、-8 和 -9 防止细胞凋亡来介导的。基于百里醌的线粒体靶向抗氧化剂在线粒体中积累，并在纳摩尔浓度下表现出神经保护特性。百里醌可减少急性和慢性脑部病变的负面影响。百里醌及其化学衍生物的药理作用机制需要更全面的研究。本文阐述了百里醌及百里醌类药物在神经退行性疾病治疗中的应用前景。