Improvement of butyrylcholinesterase enzyme inhibition and medicinal properties of extracts of Aristotelia serrata leaves by ultrasound extraction

Hafiz Majid,Filipa V.M Silva

doi:10.1016/j.fbp.2020.10.004

Abstract

Aristotelia serrata, wineberry, or makomako, is a small deciduous fast-growing shrub of New Zealand that produces a berry. In this study leaf extracts were produced using ultrasound technology. Alzheimer’s Disease is a progressive mental deterioration related with ageing and senility, in which approved drugs for treatment inhibit butyrylcholinesterase (BChE), an enzyme present in the human brain. The ultrasound assisted extraction of natural anti-butyrylcholinesterase and antioxidants from this plant, and the yield of extraction were optimized using response surface methodology. The effect of acoustic power density (0.13–0.65 W/mL), time (1–20 min), and ethanol concentration (20–80%) on BChE inhibition, antioxidant activity, and extraction yield was determined, the optimum extraction conditions being 0.53 W/mL, 17.12 min and 74% ethanol. The optimized extracts were produced to experimentally validate the predicted responses. The IC50 concentrations were experimentally determined (26.2 μg/mL for BChE, 5.5 μg/mL for radical scavenging activity). A. serrata leaf extracts have potential to be used as complements to medicines traditionally used for memory dysfunction.

Highlights

Neurodegeneration is characterized by gradual loss of neurons which leads to memory impairment (Dubey and Chinnathambi, 2019)
Based on these results a fixed temperature of 50 ◦C was selected for Response surface methodology (RSM) study presented in Section 3.2, as the temperature of extraction had a minor effect on BChE inhibition between 50 and 70 ◦C (Fig. 3)
In this study, ethanol is chosen for A. serrata extraction as it is less toxic for human consumption and recommended by the US Food and Drug Administration (Alothman et al, 2009; Tabaraki and Nateghi, 2011)

Summary

Introduction

Neurodegeneration is characterized by gradual loss of neurons which leads to memory impairment (Dubey and Chinnathambi, 2019). Among all types of neuronal disorders in the elderly population, Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) is the most common disease. AD is the third main cause of death behind cardiovascular and cancer in developed countries (Huang et al, 2016). It is known that AD is caused by genetic and other environmental factors, the pathogenesis and mechanism behind AD remains unclear. The main treatments for AD patients are cholinesterase inhibitors such as donepezil, galantamine and rivastigmine. Acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and butyrylcholinesterase (BChE) are the two brain enzymes targeted by these drugs. AChE enzyme inhibitors were employed to treat patients.

Objectives

Methods

Results