Exploring the Therapeutic Potential of Coumarin Scaffolds in Alzheimer's Disease: A Comprehensive Review.

Alzheimer's disease is a progressive and debilitating form of neurological disorder that affects millions of people across the globe. Alzheimer's disease is essentially defined by the presence of cognitive decline, memory impairments, and behavioral symptoms, and it is also defined by pathological hallmarks such as amyloid plaques, Tau protein inclusions, oxidative stress, & neuroinflammation. However, despite the vast progress made in the field of neuroscience and pharmacology, there is no permanent treatment available for Alzheimer's disease, and the existing treatments are only symptomatic in nature. This has led to the search for new innovative therapeutic approaches based on small molecules with multifunctional pharmacological properties. Among different molecules, Coumarin derivatives have been identified as promising therapeutic agents owing to their high structural diversity and potent ability to bind key molecular targets involved in AD pathogenesis. Coumarin derivatives have been found to have strong potential for modulating oxidative stress, inhibitng cholinesterase, reducing neuroinflammation, and interfering with amyloid-beta aggregation. Recent advancements in the synthesis and design of coumarin derivatives have shown that slight modifications in their structure can yieldsubstantial improvements in their efficacy and selectivity in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease. For coumarin derivatives to be used in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease, they need first to be able to cross the blood-brain barrier. To overcome this limitation, scientists have been working to improve lipophilicity, optimize molecular size and polarity, and design prodrugs. This review provides an updated account of the use of coumarin derivatives in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease. It focuses on their neuroprotective and, symptommodifying effects, and their use in dealing with the multifactorial nature of the disease. Moreover, this paper aims to give recent research findings and discuss the structure-activity relationships of these compounds. The knowledge gained from this review is expected to motivate further research endeavors in the development of stronger and more specific AD drugs.