Abstract
The aim of this work is to investigate the in vitro acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and butyrycholinesterase (BChE) inhibitory activities of essential oils obtained by hydrodistillation from the leaves of Prunus armeniaca and P. domestica in relation to their composition, analysed by Gas Chromatography–Flame Ionization Detector (GC-FID) and Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) analyses, at different times. Moreover, considering the role of free radicals in the progression of neurodegenerative disorders, the antioxidant properties of essential oils were investigated by using, 2’-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulphonic acid) (ABTS), 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), and β-carotene bleaching tests. The relative antioxidant capacity index (RACI) was used to achieve more comprehensive comparison between analysed antioxidant effects of essential oils. P. armeniaca oils were more active than P. domestica oils against AChE. Against BChE, the most active was the essential oil from P. domestica leaves collected in August with an IC50 value of 95.80 μg/mL. This oil exerted the highest inhibitory activity of lipid peroxidation with IC50 values of 11.15 and 11.39 μg/mL after 30 and 60 min of incubation, respectively. All samples demonstrated a remarkable ABTS radicals scavenging activity, with IC50 values in the range 0.45–0.57 μg/mL in comparison to the positive control, ascorbic acid.
Highlights
The prevalence of neurodegenerative disorders is increasing
Following our previous studies in which we have investigated the potential use of different essential oils from Citrus, Salvia, Cistus, and Pinus species for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) [11,12,13,14], we analysed essential oils from the leaves of Prunus armeniaca and P. domestica collected at three different times (June, July, and August)
The essential oil from P. armeniaca leaves collected in June (P1) showed high percentages of γ-cadinene (4.76%), δ-cadinene (4.73%), and pentacosane (7.39%) in comparison to the other P. armeniaca oils P2 and P3
Summary
Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is one of the most common neurodegenerative disease characterized by cognitive impairment and gradual memory loss [1]. Anomalous deposition of amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs) in different brain regions, deficit of cholinergic neurotransmission, inflammation, and oxidative stress, are some of the pathways involved in the development and progression of AD [2]. Amyloid plaques are constituted by Aβ peptides originating from amyloid precursor protein (APP) by β- and γ-secretase enzymes [3]. Aβ peptides polymerize, forming the insoluble filaments that constitute senile plaques. Neuro-inflammation processes, reduced cholinergic neurotransmission, microglial activation, and cytokine release occur [4]. As stated by the cholinergic hypothesis, the reduced cholinergic neurotransmission in the cerebral cortex and the destruction of cholinergic neurons disturb cognitive function [5]. Depletion of the levels of acetylcholine has been observed in patients affected by dementia and Antioxidants 2019, 8, 2; doi:10.3390/antiox8010002 www.mdpi.com/journal/antioxidants
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