Planta Med 2016; 82(S 01): S1-S381
DOI: 10.1055/s-0036-1596535
Abstracts
Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York

Alkaloids of Narcissus poeticus cv. Pink Parasol and their biological activity

M Šafratová
1   ADINACO Research Group, Department of Pharmaceutical Botany and Ecology, Faculty of Pharmacy in Hradec Králové, Charles University in Prague, 500 05 Hradec Králové, Czech Republic
,
A Hošťálková
1   ADINACO Research Group, Department of Pharmaceutical Botany and Ecology, Faculty of Pharmacy in Hradec Králové, Charles University in Prague, 500 05 Hradec Králové, Czech Republic
,
L Opletal
1   ADINACO Research Group, Department of Pharmaceutical Botany and Ecology, Faculty of Pharmacy in Hradec Králové, Charles University in Prague, 500 05 Hradec Králové, Czech Republic
,
J Kuneš
2   Department of Inorganic and Organic Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy in Hradec Králové, Charles University in Prague, 500 05 Hradec Králové, Czech Republic
,
L Cahlíková
1   ADINACO Research Group, Department of Pharmaceutical Botany and Ecology, Faculty of Pharmacy in Hradec Králové, Charles University in Prague, 500 05 Hradec Králové, Czech Republic
› Author Affiliations
Further Information

Publication History

Publication Date:
14 December 2016 (online)

 

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is known as one of the most common neurodegenerative diseases. The main characteristic sign of AD is progressive and irreversible loss of neurons. AD is also characterized by decreased levels of neurotransmitter acetylcholine (Ach) in the cortex, which is hydrolyzed mostly by acetylcholinesterase (AChE) in healthy brain. On the other hand, in late AD stages butyrylcholinesterase (BuChE) is the main hydrolysing enzyme as its content will increase by up to 90% in comparison to normal state. BuChE cleaves ACh in a similar way as AChE to terminate its physiological action [1].

Plants of Amaryllidaceae species are important for producing specific compounds that are known as Amaryllidaceae alkaloids. These alkaloids have interesting physiological effects such as antitumor, antiviral, antimalarial and acetylcholinesterase activity. Alkaloidal extracts of some Narcissus species have been tested for their inhibiting effects on acetylcholinesterase and butyrylcholinesterase and alkaloid pattern. Interesting biological activities were demonstrated by extracts of N. poeticus cv. Pink Parasol IC50 HuBuChE = 3.3 ± 0.5 µg/ml (IC50 HuAChE = 191.3 ± 20.2 µg/ml) and N. poeticus cv. Gigantic Star IC50 HuAChE = 3.2 ± 0.6 µg/ml (IC50 HuBuChE = 16.2 ± 1.0 µg/ml). Due to the interesting inhibition activity and the presence of lycorine and homolycorine type of alkaloids in the crude extracts, a phytochemical study was performed on N. poeticus cv. Pink Parasol. Fourty-two alkaloids were determined by GC/MS, thirty of them were identified from their mass spectra, retention times and indexes. Many of them are new structures that have not been isolated yet. Their biological activities are also unknown.

Acknowledgements: SVV-2016 – 260292.

Keywords: Amaryllidaceae, Alzheimer's disease, GC/MS, AChE, BuChE.

References:

[1] Park SY. Potential therapeutic agents against Alzheimer's disease from natural sources. Arch Pharmacal Res 2010; 33: 1589 – 1609