Phytochemical Quantification and the In Vitro Acetylcholinesterase Inhibitory Activity of Phellodendron chinense and Its Components

• Published in: Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) Switzerland), 2017-06, Vol.22 (6), p.925
• Main Authors: Kim, Yu Jin, Lim, Hye-Sun, Kim, Yoonju, Lee, Jun, Kim, Bu-Yeo, Jeong, Soo-Jin
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Acetonitrile; Acetylcholinesterase; Alzheimer's disease; Amyloid; Amyloid beta-Peptides - metabolism; Animals; Antioxidants; Antioxidants - pharmacology; Bark; Berberine; Biological activity; Biological properties; Biomarkers; Calibration; Cancer; Cholinesterase Inhibitors - chemistry; Cholinesterase Inhibitors - pharmacology; Chromatography; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; Correlation coefficient; Correlation coefficients; Dementia; Diarrhea; Dysentery; Enzymatic activity; Ethanol; Fever; Herbal medicine; High performance liquid chromatography; Hippocampus; Hydrogen peroxide; Linearity; Liquid chromatography; Medicine; Mice; Neurons - drug effects; Neurons - metabolism; Neuroprotection; Neuroprotective Agents - pharmacology; Phellodendron; Phellodendron - chemistry; Phytochemicals; Phytochemicals - chemistry; Phytochemicals - pharmacology; Plant Extracts - chemistry; Protein Aggregates - drug effects; Protein Aggregation, Pathological; Quantitative analysis; Sensitivity and Specificity; Trifluoroacetic acid; Waterborne diseases
• ISSN: 1420-3049; 1420-3049
• DOI: 10.3390/molecules22060925

The dried bark of has been used as a traditional herbal medicine to remove damp heat, relieve consumptive fever, and cure dysentery and diarrhea. In the present study, we performed quantitative analyses of the two components of , phellodendrine and berberine, using high-performance liquid chromatography. A 70% ethanol extract of was prepared and the two components were separated on a C-18 analytical column using a gradient solvent system of acetonitrile and 0.1% ( / ) aqueous trifluoroacetic acid. The ultraviolet wavelength used for detection was 200 nm for phellodendrine and 226 nm for berberine. The analytical method established here showed high linearity (correlation coefficient, ≥0.9991). The amount of phellodendrine and berberine used was 22.255 ± 0.123 mg/g and 269.651 ± 1.257 mg/g, respectively. Moreover, we performed an in vitro acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activity assay and an amyloid-β aggregation test to examine the biological properties of phellodendrine and berberine as therapeutic drugs for Alzheimer's disease. Phellodendrine and berberine inhibited AChE activity in a dose-dependent manner (IC = 36.51 and 0.44 μM, respectively). In contrast, neither phellodendrine nor berberine had an effect on amyloid-β aggregation. The extract and phellodendrine, but not berberine, exhibited antioxidant activity by increasing radical scavenging activity. Moreover, demonstrated a neuroprotective effect in hydrogen peroxide-treated HT22 hippocampal cells. Overall, our findings suggest that has potential as an anti-Alzheimer's agent via the suppression of the enzymatic activity of acetylcholinesterase and the stimulation of antioxidant activity.