BIO-GUIDED FRACTIONATION OF Chaptalia nutans (L.) Pol. (Asteraceae) AND ITS ACETYLCHOLINESTERASE INHIBITORY EFFECT.

JUAN ROBLEDO; DÍAZ BRZVO MJ; BUSAJM DANIELA; VALERIA PAOLA CARLINI; MARIANA VALLEJOS

Congreso; XLI Reunión Científica Anual de la Sociedad de Biología de Cuyo; 2023

Chaptalia nutans (L.) Pol . (Asteraceae) is a species used in Guarani folk medicine (Argentina) to ameliorate central cognitive functions,mainly as an antidepressant. Bearing in mind the relationship between depression and memory, the aim of the present work is to explore thepotential nootropic, or memory and learning enhancing effects, of secondary metabolites of C. nutans, To achieve this goal, the inhibitoryeffect on acetylcholinesterase (AChE), an enzyme targeted in cognitive decline, was evaluated. Whole parts of C. nutans, dried and ground(116 g), were extracted by decoction, according to FA 7th Ed. Polysaccharides present in the aqueous extract were separated by precipitationusing 5% EtOH and filtration to obtain the working fraction (Cn, 3.12 g). A purification of Cn was carried out by means of a silica-gelchromatographic column, using a gradient of solvents of increasing polarity (hexane, ethyl acetate and methanol). Six fractions (from CnFr-A to CnFr-F) were obtained and their AChE inhibitory effects evaluated using the Ellman?s method, at initial time (t=0) and 30 minutes later(t=30). For the active fractions, the IC50 was determined by using the concentration range: 0.1- 50 µg/mL. The phytochemical profile of thefractions were analyzed by UPLC-MS/MS in which the presence of nutanocoumarins was found in all but the final one. It was determinedthat the CnFr-A fraction was the only one that exerted a potent inhibitory action (IC50: 4.07 μg/mL, t=0 and 7.76 μg/mL, t=30) which makesit an interesting candidate to be studied in depth its chemical composition, to find a potential drug with nootropic activity.