Berberis darwinii is native to South America but has been widely distributed in Europe and other continents following its discovery by Charles Darwin. Herewith, the therapeutic potential of stem-bark of the plant for treating Alzheimer's disease was studied using an in vitro acetylcholinesterase inhibition assay. It was found that the methanolic extract of the stem-bark was a potent inhibitor of the enzyme with an IC50 value of 1.23 ± 0.05 μg/mL. An HPLC-based berberine quantification study revealed an astonishing 38% yield of the dried methanolic extract.
(a) TangJ., FengY., TsaoS., WangN., CurtainR., WangY. (2009) Berberine and Coptidis rhizoma as novel antineoplastic agents: A review of traditional use and biomedical investigations. Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 126, 5–17;(b) Zhou X-Q, Zeng X-N, Kong, H, Sun XL. (2008) Neuroprotective effects of berberine on stroke models in vitro and in vivo. Neuroscience Letters, 447, 31-36; (c) Klein WL. (2002) Aβ toxicity in Alzheimer's disease: globular oligomers (ADDLs) as new vaccine and drug targets. Neurochemistry International, 41, 345–352; (d) Asai M, Iwata N, Yoshikawa A, Aizaki Y, Ishiura S, Saido TC, Maruyama K. (2007) Berberine alters the processing of Alzheimer's amyloid precursor protein to decrease Aβ secretion. Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communication, 52, 498-502; (e) Racchi M, Mazzucchelli M, Porrello E, Lanni C, Govoni S. (2004) Acetylcholinesterase inhibitors: novel activities of old molecules. Pharmacological Research, 50, 441-445, (f) Huang L, Luo Z, He F, Lu J, Li X.(2010) Synthesis and biological evaluation of a new series of berberine derivatives as dual inhibitors of acetylcholinesterase and butyrylcholinesterase. Bioorganic & Medicinal Chemistry Letters, 18, 4475-4484.
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(a) Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berberis_darwinii#cite_note-0 Accessed – February 2011; (b) CromwellB.T. (1933) Experiments on the origin and function of berberine in Berberis Darwinii. Biochemical Journal, 27, 860–872. Douglas JA, Follett JM, Parmenter GA, Sansom CE, Perry NB, Littler RA. (2010) Seasonal variation of biomass and bioactive alkaloid content of goldenseal, Hydrastis canadensis. Fitoterapia, 81, 925-928; (c) Douglas JA, Follett JM, Parmenter GA, Sansom CE, Perry NB, Littler RA. (2010) Seasonal variation of biomass and bioactive alkaloid content of goldenseal, Hydrastis canadensis. Fitoterapia, 81, 925-928; (d) Chen J, Wang F, Liu J, Lee FS-C, Wang X, Yang H. (2008) Analysis of alkaloids in Coptis chinensis Franch by accelerated solvent extraction combined with ultra performance liquid chromatographic analysis with photodiode array and tandem mass spectrometry detections. Analytica Chimica Acta, 613, 184-195; (e) Ellman GL, Courtney KD, Andres V, Featherstone RM. (1961) A new and rapid colourimetric determination of acetylcholinesterase activity. Biochemical Pharmacology, 7, 88-95.
