In vitro Acetylcholinesterase inhibitory activity of polyphenolic compounds identified from Matricaria recutita

Abstract

Acetylcholinesterase (AChE) is a key enzyme enhancing the cognitive disorder, leading to Alzheimer's disease, and AChE inhibition is a crucial therapeutic mechanism against it. Matricaria recutita (MR) is widely used as a herbal medicine due to its phytotherapeutic properties. For this reason, MR flower was evaluated to identify polyphenolic compounds (PC), and then each PC is examined for AChE inhibitory activity. The ultra-performance liquid chromatography-electrospray tandem mass spectrometry UPLC-ESI-MS/MS was used to detect PC, and molecular docking was performed to insight potential inhibitory activity of PC against AChE. A series of 13 PC compounds were identified in the fractions of MR plant. Docking studies revealed that the inhibitory free energy and the position of the docked compounds in the active site are favored for the active compounds complex formed between AChE and the identified PC compounds. The accurate analysis of the docking result demonstrates that Kaempferol-3-O-rutinoside (KR) and Luteolin-8-C-glucoside (orientin) (LG) are the most signi fficant inhibitory compounds against AChE. It can be concluded that MR is a signifficant source of PC compounds, and KR and LG are the most promising compounds that have highaffanity binding to AChE, based on docking outcome. Further experiments are recommended to explore in vivo enzyme compound interaction and toxicity models to establish the maximum suggested dose.