Chemical study of Zanthoxylum naranjillo Griseb (Rutaceae) alkaloidic fraction and of the acetylcholinesterase enzyme inhibitory activity

• Grant number: 10/08236-5
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: August 01, 2010
• End date: July 31, 2011
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Chemistry - Organic Chemistry
• Principal Investigator: Patricia Mendonça Pauletti
• Grantee: Camila Yamasita Henrique
• Host Institution: Pró-Reitoria Adjunta de Pesquisa e Pós-Graduação. Universidade de Franca (UNIFRAN). Franca , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The Rutaceae family is consisted of approximately 150 genera, which comprises 1500 species, and is found in tropical and temperate regions. The Zanthoxylum genus is made-up around 200 species distributed all over the world. Chemical studies of this genus revealed the presence of alkaloids, amides, lignans, flavonoids, phenolic compounds and terpenes. Additionally, Z. narranjillo shows the occurrence of lignans and sesquiterpenes, where some lignans isolated shown anti-inflammatory and trypanocidal activities. It is interesting to point out that recent studies of this species carried out by our group resulted in the isolation of protocatechuic acid, gallic acid, p-hydroxybenzoic acid, 5-O-caffeoylshikimic acid, and magnoflorine. Additionally, the alkaloid, magnoflorine shows inhibitory action against the butirilcholinesterase and antioxidant activity, confirming the importance of evaluating this genus by acetylcholinesterase assay, given that the inhibition of this enzyme should contribute to Alzheimer's Disease (AD) symptoms improvement. Thus, mainly to the relevance of this subject and to the tendency of the increasing number of AD cases arise the necessity to research new drugs. Therefore, this project aims to isolate alkaloids from ethanolic crude extract of Z. naranjillo Griseb (Rubiaceae) leaves, evaluate the inhibitory activity in the acetylcholinesterase assay, and also contribute to human resource formation in Franca region. (AU)