Anticholinesterase activity in a alkaloid extract of Huperzia saururus

M.G. ORTEGA, A.M. AGNESE , J.L. CABRERA

PHYTOMEDICINE

Elsevier

Lugar: Amsterdam; Año: 2004 vol. 11 p. 539 - 539

0944-7113

font face="AdvTimes-b"> Abstract Huperzia saururus (Lam.) Trevis. (Lycopodiaceae) is used widely in Argentinian traditional medicine as anaphrodisiac and for memory improvement. An aqueous extract from the aerial parts was obtained by decoction,revealing the presence of alkaloids, among other constituents. By partition with organic solvent in alkaline media,alkaloids were extracted and then purified by gel permeation. We studied the anticholinesterase activity in vitro of thealkaloid extract using erythrocyte membranes and human serum as sources of acetylcholinesterase andpseudocholinesterase, respectively. The results show a marked inhibition of true acetylcholinesterase with an IC50value of 0.58 m