Targeting oxidative stress and neurodegeneration: the role of Putranjiva roxburghii in Alzheimer's.

AD is a complex neurodegenerative disease that leads to progressive memory loss, worsening cognitive abilities, and synaptic dysfunction. The pathophysiology of the disease is driven by oxidative stress and neuroinflammation, which cause neuronal damage and may facilitate amyloid-beta aggregation and tau hyperphosphorylation. Current treatment strategies provide symptomatic improvement but do not address the multifactorial causes of the disease; therefore, multi-targeted approaches are critical. Putranjiva roxburghii is a medicinal plant with a wealth of ethnomedicinal literature from India. It contains a variety of phytochemicals, including flavonoids, lignans, glycosides, and triterpenoids, that collectively exhibit antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and neuroprotective effects. Preclinical studies suggest that it can scavenge ROS, decrease LPO, modulate cholinergic systems, and interfere with amyloid and tau pathology, supporting potential cognitive benefits. Notwithstanding the promising potential of these findings, challenges remain, including variable extraction methods, limited pharmacokinetic information, and the absence of clinical validation, which are obstacles to translation. This manuscript provides a limited examination of the phytochemical profile, neuroprotective mechanisms, and potential therapeutic applications in Alzheimer's disease (AD) attributed to P. roxburghii, and highlights the necessity for standardized formulations, molecular docking methodology, and rigorously designed clinical studies to determine its efficacy and safety in humans.