Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common form of dementia, arising as a result of malfunctions of different biochemical pathways. There are many multiple pathogenic factors such as aggregated amyloid-β-peptide (Aβ) and tau protein, excessive transition metals, oxidative stress and reduced acetylcholine level implicated in AD pathology.
Gossypium herbaceam extracts (GHE), an active ingredient from Gossypium herbaceam, is a complex mixture mainly containing flavonols, such as quercetin, isoquercetrin and quercimeritrin. Each constituent of GHE has been identified, and their metabolites have been profiled.
Researchers from Xinjiang Technical Institute of Physics & Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences(XTIPC), found an active ingredient from Gossypium herbaceam for AD treatment. On their previous study, it has shown that GHE has antioxidant stress properties in a rat model of AD induced by Aβ peptides, and exerted a positive effect on learning and memory impairment in rats induced by intracerebral injection of ibotenic acid. The present work is to continue to evaluate the antioxidant and AChE inhibition of GHE. All tested compounds were isolated and obtained from GHE, using 1H-NMR and 13C-NMR analysis as well as comparison of their basic spectral characteristics.
In order to better understand the herb for AD treatment, researchers investigated the acetylcholinesterase (AChE) inhibition and antioxidant activity of GHE as well as the protective effects to PC12 cells against cytotoxicity induced by tertiary butyl hydroperoxide (tBHP) using in vitro assays. “Our data showed that GHE exhibited certain activities against AChE and also is an efficient free radical scavenger, which may be helpful in preventing or alleviating patients suffering from AD,” write the authors of the study.
The result has been published on Molecules, this work was financially supported by National Natural Sciences Foundation of China and National Key Technology R&D Program.
