| Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4521209 | South African Journal of Botany | 2011 | 7 Pages |
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common type of dementia in the aging population. Enhancement of acetylcholine levels in the brain is one means of treating the disease. However, the drugs presently used in the management of the disease have various drawbacks. New treatments are required and in this study, extracts of Salvia tiliifolia Vahl. (whole plant), Chamaecrista mimosoides L. Greene (roots), Buddleja salviifolia (L.) Lam. (whole plant) and Schotia brachypetala Sond. (root and bark) were evaluated to determine their polyphenolic content, antioxidant and acetylcholinesterase inhibitory (AChEI) activity. The DPPH and ABTS assays were used to determine antioxidant activity and Ellman colorimetric method to quantify AChEI activity. Although all four plants showed activity in both assays, the organic extracts of C. mimosoides root was found to contain the highest AChEI activity (IC50 = 0.03 ± 0.08 mg/ml) and B. salviifolia whole plant had the highest antioxidant activity (ABTS; IC50 = 0.14 ± 0.08 mg/ml and DPPH; IC50 = 0.23 ± 0.01 mg/ml). The results suggest that the tested plant species may provide a substantial source of secondary metabolites, which act as natural antioxidants and acetylcholinesterase inhibitors, and may be beneficial in the treatment of AD.
Research Highlights► DCM: MeOH extracts of C. mimosoides, B. salviifolia and S. brachypetala showed good AChEI activity. ► C. mimosoides was the most active with a percentage inhibition of 78.87% at 2 mg/ml. ► Organic extracts exhibited higher antioxidant activity than the water extracts. ► DCM: MeOH (1:1) extracts of S. brachypetala roots and bark exhibited the best antioxidant activity. ► C. mimosoides, B. salviifolia and S. brachypetala warrant further investigation.
