Myrtenal inhibits acetylcholinesterase, a known Alzheimer target
Dorothea Kaufmann1, Anudeep Kaur Dogra, Michael Wink
1Institute of Pharmacy and Molecular Biotechnology, Department of Biology, Ruprecht-Karls-University Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany. dorothea.kaufmann@web.de
Objectives:
Inhibition of acetylcholinesterase (AChE) is a common treatment for early stages of the most general form of dementia, Alzheimer's disease. In this study selected components of essential oils, which carry a variety of important functional groups, were tested for their in-vitro anti-acetylcholinesterase activity.
Methods:
In-vitro anti-acetylcholinesterase activity was measured by an adapted version of Ellman's colorimetric assay.
Key Findings:
1,8-cineole, carvacrol, myrtenal and verbenone apparently inhibited AChE; the highest inhibitory activity was observed for myrtenal (IC50 = 0.17 mm). This is the first study showing the AChE inhibitory activity of myrtenal.
Conclusions:
Our investigations provided evidence for the efficacy of monoterpenes as inhibitors of AChE.
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