Espresso coffee is among the most consumed beverages in the world. Recent studies report a protective activity of the coffee beverage against neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease. Alzheimer’s disease belongs to a group of disorders, called tauopathies, which are characterized by the accumulation of the tau protein in fibrillar aggregates. In new research, scientists at the University of Verona characterized the molecular composition of the espresso coffee extract and identified its main components. With in vitro and in cell experiments, they demonstrated that the whole coffee extract, caffeine, and genistein have biological properties in preventing aggregation, condensation, and seeding activity of the repeat region of tau. They also identified a set of coffee compounds capable of binding to preformed tau fibrils.
Espresso coffee is among the best known beverages worldwide, and drinking espresso has become a habit in many countries due to its pleasant taste.
For many years, coffee consumption was associated with health risks. However, recent studies showed that when consumed in moderation, this soft drink could have beneficial effects on human health thanks to its biological properties.
The analysis and review of observational studies present in the literature suggest that consuming coffee could be advantageous against a number of chronic diseases, including some cancers, metabolic diseases, and neurological disorders such as Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, and depression.
In particular, numerous studies report that moderate and, sometimes, even high coffee consumption exerts a neuroprotective action against two of the most common neurodegenerative diseases, i.e., Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s.
Many coffee compounds display beneficial properties in alleviating disease symptoms, for instance by reducing cognitive and memory impairment, as antioxidants, or by preventing amyloid formation and neurotoxicity.
The coffee…
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