Evaluación de la actividad inhibitoria de acetilcolinesterasa y butirilcolinesterasa del extracto de alcaloides de Eucrosia mirabilis.

Abstract

The aim of this research was to evaluate the enzymatic inhibition of acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and butyrylcholinesterase (BuChE) by means of the alkaloidal extract of bulbs of the vegetal specie Eucrosia mirabilis, belonging to the Amaryllidaceae family from Ecuador. Starting from the liquid brute extract obtained through a maceration process of the vegetal material with methanol, the next step was getting the alkaloidal extract using a method based on pH changes and organic solvents, obtaining a performance percentage of alkaloid extraction of 0,25 %. In order to find out the identity and percentage of the alkaloids within the Eucrosia mirabilis bulb, a gas chromatography and a mass spectrometry (CG-EM) were developed, coming across three alkaloids; dimethyltryptamine (67,97%), hydroxyephedrine (5,12 %) and hordenine (2,26 %). For analyzing the inhibitory activity, the Ellman colorimetric method was used (1961) with Ortiz modifications (2016), using galantamine as reference compound and expressing the inhibition enzymatic degree through the mid inhibitory focusing (IC50). The alkaloidal extract of Eucrosia mirabilis shown up an IC50 worth to acetylcholinesterase of 267,62 ± 26,78 μg/mL, while for galantamine was 0,22 ± 0,02 ug/mL. On the other hand, butyrylcholinesterase presented a IC50 of 126,59 ± 11,65 ug/mL, becoming the IC50 of galantamine 4,32 ± 0,43 ug/mL. The obtained results indicate that Eucrosia mirabilis has a low inhibitory activity against the cholinesterase ones,however, it is evident that the alkaloidal extract has higher kindship towards butyrylcholinesterase (BuChE). Moreover, the identified alkaloids were not found in other species of Amaryllidaceae family. As recommendation it is necessary to bring about phytochemical and pharmacologial studies in other species from Eucrosia genre, such as E. bicolor or E. aurantiaca, from Ecuador because of the lack of researches in this field.