Molecules 2012, 17(11), 13473-13482; doi:10.3390/molecules171113473
Article

Wild Argentinian Amaryllidaceae, a New Renewable Source of the Acetylcholinesterase Inhibitor Galanthamine and Other Alkaloids

Javier E. Ortiz 1 email, Strahil Berkov 2 email, Natalia B. Pigni 2 email, Cristina Theoduloz 3 email, German Roitman 4 email, Alejandro Tapia 1 email, Jaume Bastida 2 email and Gabriela E. Feresin 1,* email
1 Instituto de Biotecnología-Instituto de Ciencias Básicas, Universidad Nacional de San Juan, Av. Libertador General San Martín 1109 (O), CP 5400, San Juan, Argentina 2 Departament de Productes Naturals, Biologia Vegetal i Edafologia, Facultat de Farmàcia, Universitat de Barcelona, Avda. Joan XXIII s/n, 08028 Barcelona, Catalunya, Spain 3 Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad de Talca, Casilla 747, Talca, Chile 4 Facultad de Agronomía, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Av. San Martín 4453, 1417, Buenos Aires, Argentina
* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Received: 8 October 2012; in revised form: 2 November 2012 / Accepted: 9 November 2012 / Published: 13 November 2012
(This article belongs to the Section Natural Products)
PDF Full-text Download PDF Full-Text [307 KB, uploaded 13 November 2012 13:34 CET]
Abstract: The Amaryllidaceae family is well known for its pharmacologically active alkaloids. An important approach to treat Alzheimer’s disease involves the inhibition of the enzyme acetylcholinesterase (AChE). Galanthamine, an Amaryllidaceae alkaloid, is an effective, selective, reversible, and competitive AchE inhibitor. This work was aimed at studying the alkaloid composition of four wild Argentinian Amarillydaceae species for the first time, as well as analyzing their inhibitory activity on acetylcholinesterase. Alkaloid content was characterized by means of GC-MS analysis. Chloroform basic extracts from Habranthus jamesonii, Phycella herbertiana, Rhodophiala mendocina and Zephyranthes filifolia collected in the Argentinian Andean region all contained galanthamine, and showed a strong AChE inhibitory activity (IC50 between 1.2 and 2 µg/mL). To our knowledge, no previous reports on alkaloid profiles and AChEIs activity of wild Argentinian Amarillydaceae species have been publisihed. The demand for renewable sources of industrial products like galanthamine and the need to protect plant biodiversity creates an opportunity for Argentinian farmers to produce such crops.
Keywords: Argentinian Amaryllidaceae wild; alkaloids; galanthamine; lycorine; tazettine; acetylcholinesterase inhibitors

Article Statistics

Click here to load and display the download statistics.

Cite This Article

MDPI and ACS Style

Ortiz, J.E.; Berkov, S.; Pigni, N.B.; Theoduloz, C.; Roitman, G.; Tapia, A.; Bastida, J.; Feresin, G.E. Wild Argentinian Amaryllidaceae, a New Renewable Source of the Acetylcholinesterase Inhibitor Galanthamine and Other Alkaloids. Molecules 2012, 17, 13473-13482.

AMA Style

Ortiz JE, Berkov S, Pigni NB, Theoduloz C, Roitman G, Tapia A, Bastida J, Feresin GE. Wild Argentinian Amaryllidaceae, a New Renewable Source of the Acetylcholinesterase Inhibitor Galanthamine and Other Alkaloids. Molecules. 2012; 17(11):13473-13482.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Ortiz, Javier E.; Berkov, Strahil; Pigni, Natalia B.; Theoduloz, Cristina; Roitman, German; Tapia, Alejandro; Bastida, Jaume; Feresin, Gabriela E. 2012. "Wild Argentinian Amaryllidaceae, a New Renewable Source of the Acetylcholinesterase Inhibitor Galanthamine and Other Alkaloids." Molecules 17, no. 11: 13473-13482.

Molecules EISSN 1420-3049 Published by MDPI AG, Basel, Switzerland RSS E-Mail Table of Contents Alert