(S)‐Allyl Cysteine Derivatives as a New‐type Cholinesterase Inhibitor

Abstract

Even though cholinesterase (ChE) inhibitors and N‐methyl‐D‐aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonist are clinically approved to treat Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients, new therapeutic compounds still need to be developed. Therefore, many new targets and novel anti‐AD drugs targeting them have been developed. As inhibition of ChE is still considered to be one of the most effective targets to treat AD patients, many new classes of ChE inhibitors have been synthesized. In an effort to identify new types of cholinergic drugs, S‐allyl cysteine (SAC), which is the major ingredient of aged‐garlic extract (AGE), was coupled with natural antioxidants. As SAC derivatives showed butyrylcholinesterase (BuChE) inhibitory activity, they constitute a new class of inhibitors for ChE and can be used as a novel natural‐compounds‐derived drug to treat AD patients.