molecules Review Neuroprotective Potential of Limonene and Limonene Containing Natural Products Lujain Bader Eddin 1 , Niraj Kumar Jha 2 , M. F. Nagoor Meeran 1 , Kavindra Kumar Kesari 3,4 , Rami Beiram 1 and Shreesh Ojha 1,* 1 Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, United Arab Emirates University, P.O. Box 17666, Al Ain 17666, United Arab Emirates;
[email protected] (L.B.E.);
[email protected] (M.F.N.M.);
[email protected] (R.B.) 2 Department of Biotechnology, School of Engineering & Technology, Sharda University, Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh 201310, India;
[email protected] 3 Department of Applied Physics, School of Science, Aalto University, 00076 Espoo, Finland; kavindra.kesari@aalto.fi 4 Department of Bioproducts and Biosystems, School of Chemical Engineering, Aalto University, 00076 Espoo, Finland * Correspondence:
[email protected] Abstract: Limonene is a monoterpene confined to the family of Rutaceae, showing several biological properties such as antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anticancer, antinociceptive and gastroprotective characteristics. Recently, there is notable interest in investigating the pharmacological effects of limonene in various chronic diseases due to its mitigating effect on oxidative stress and inflam- mation and regulating apoptotic cell death. There are several available studies demonstrating the neuroprotective role of limonene in neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer’s disease, Citation: Eddin, L.B.; Jha, N.K.; multiple sclerosis, epilepsy, anxiety, and stroke. The high abundance of limonene in nature, its Meeran, M.F.N.; Kesari, K.K.; Beiram, safety profile, and various mechanisms of action make this monoterpene a favorable molecule to R.; Ojha, S.