Parkinson's Disease models of Caenorhabditis elegans to study mechanism of action of Ayurvedic nootropics

Neurodegenerative diseases are a major health problem especially in aging population. Parkinson's disease (PD) is a progressive movement disorder and globally the second most common neurodegenerative disease. Development of effective and safe treatment strategies for prevention and management of PD is one of the important research area. Indian traditional healthcare system, Ayurveda, prescribes many different treatments and formulations for prevention and management of PD and similar health problems. Understanding of cellular and molecular basis of the Ayurvedic treatments is of significance for its wider and better use in contemporary health scenario. In this chapter, we have described use of Caenorhabditis elegans, a well-studied invertebrate model organism research related to herbs and formulations. Most of the research is aimed at understanding mode of action of the formulations in relevant disease models. The finding from the research is valuable for developing novel treatment strategies for PD.