Cholinesterase inhibitors isolated from bilberry fruit

• Main Authors: Kamila Borowiec, Dominik Szwajgier, Zdzisław Targoński, Oleg M. Demchuk, Justyna Cybulska, Tomasz Czernecki, Agnieszka Malik
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier 2014-11-01
• Series: Journal of Functional Foods
• Subjects: Bilberry; Acetylcholinesterase; Butyrylcholinesterase; Inhibitor; Alzheimer's disease
• Online Access: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1756464614003144

Cholinesterases (ChEs) are key enzymes in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease (AD). A growing body of evidence suggests that plants deliver compounds able to inhibit ChEs (e.g., huperzine A, galanthamine, and physostigmine), thus playing a beneficial therapeutic role in the treatment of AD. Screening for cholinesterase inhibitors (ChEIs) in selected fruits and vegetables showed that extract prepared from bilberry fruit effectively inhibited the activity of acetyl- and butyrylcholinesterase. The purification of ChEIs from bilberry fruit followed by HPLC-UV, FT-IR, NMR, and LC–MS demonstrated that the studied compounds were derivatives of chlorogenic and benzoic acids. These results confirm that bilberry fruit may serve as a useful source of ChEIs, leading to the attenuation of memory deficit caused by AD.