• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.161-166
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• 2013

At present, acetylcholinesterase (AChE) inhibitors are the first group of drugs to treat mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease (AD). Although beneficial in improving cognitive and behavioral symptoms, the effectiveness of AChE inhibitors has been questioned since they do not delay or prevent neurodegeneration in AD patients. Therefore, in the present study, in order to develop new and effective anti-AD agents from lichen products, both the AChE inhibitory and the neuroprotective effects were evaluated. The AChE inhibitory assay was performed based on Ellman's reaction, and the neuroprotective effect was evaluated by using the MTT method on injured PC12 cells. One AChE inhibitor ($IC_{50}$ = 27.1 ${\mu}g/ml$) was isolated by means of bioactivity-guided isolation from the extract of lichen-forming fungus Cladonia macilenta, which showed the most potent AChE inhibitory activity in previous screening experiment. It was then identified as biruloquinone by MS, and $^1H$- and $^{13}C$-NMR analyses. The inhibitory kinetic assay suggested that biruloquinone is a mixed-II inhibitor on AChE. Meanwhile, biruloquinone improved the viability of the $H_2O_2$- and ${\beta}$-amyloid-injured PC12 cells at 1 to 25 ${\mu}g/ml$. The protective effects are proposed to be related to the potent antioxidant activities of biruloquinone. These results imply that biruloquinone has the potential to be developed as a multifunctional anti- AD agent.

• Food Science and Biotechnology
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.384-388
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• 2008

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common neurodegenerative disorder and is responsible for more than 50% of all dementia cases. There is significant interest in finding new sources of compounds that inhibit acetylcholinesterase (AChE) to be used in the treatment of AD, since only a few AChE inhibitors, such as galanthamine, physostigmine, and tacrine, are available for clinical use. In the present study, ICR mice were treated with a 1 mg/kg scopolamine, which caused impaired cognitive ability. The steady consumption of a water extract of Chrysanthemum indicum Linne flowers for 3 months significantly prevented the scopolamine induced deficit of the spatial cognitive capability of mice. It also improved long-term memory in mice with amnesia induced by scopolamine, as assessed by the Morris water maze and passive avoidance tests. In addition, water extract consumption significantly decreased AChE activity in mouse brain, leading to inhibition of acetylcholine hydrolysis.

• Archives of Pharmacal Research
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.330-335
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• 1991

The effects of physostigmine and neostigmine on the parathin induced toxicity were examined in adult female rats. Physostigmine $(100\;{\mu}g/kg,\;ip)$ or neostigmine $(200\;{\mu}g/kg,\;ip)$ inhibited acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and cholinesterase (ChE) activities in blood, brain and lung when the enzyme activity was measured 30 min after the treatment. At the doses of two carbamates equipotent on brain AChE, neostigmine showed greater inhibition on peripheral AChE/ChE. The enzyme activity returned to normal in 120 min following the carbamates except in the lung of rats treated with neostigmine. Carbamates administered 30 min prior to parathion (2 mg/kg) antagonized the inhibition of AChE/ChE by parathion when the enzyme activity was measured 2 hr following parathion. Neostigmine showed greater protective effect on peripheral AChE/ChE. The effect of either carbamate on AChE/ChE was not significant 2 hr beyond the parathion treatment. Carbamates decreased the mortality of rats challenged with a lethal dose of parathion (4 mg/kg, ip) either when treated alone or in combination with atropine (10 mg/kg, ip). Lethal action of paraoxon (1.5 mg/ks ip), the active metabolite of parathion was also decreased by the carbamate treatment indicating that the protection was not mediated by competitive inhibition of metabolic conversion of parathion to paraoxon. The results suggest that carbamylation of the active sites may not be the sole underlying mechanism of protection provided by the carbamates.

• Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.46 no.4
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• pp.353-360
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• 2003

For the simple rapid bioassay of organophosphorus and carbamate pesticide residues, a mass-production system of acetycholinesterase (AChE, EC 3.1.1.7, MAChE) using baculovirus and insect cell culture was constructed. The cDNA for AChE was synthesized from Drosophila melanogaster in Halla Mountain, the lipid anchor tail was removed by PCR and was used for the site-directed mutagenesis of three amino acid residues (E107Y, F368L, L408F). The mutated cDNA was inserted into the baculovirus vector and expressed in insect cells. Maximum cell growth and enzyme activity were reached when the cells $(2{\times}10^6\;cell/ml)$ were infected four times at four-day-intervals. His-tag containing MAChE was purified using Ni-NTA column and used for characterization. The activity was maintained under various pHs (3-10) and temperatures $(20-50^{\circ}C)$ under experimental conditions. As an extraction solution for pesticides, methanol is more effective than ethanol. Against major organophosphate and carbamate pesticides, the MAChE showed better sensitivity than AChE and AChE from housefly (Taiwan).

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.32-40
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• 1996

To investigate the effect of dietary docosahexaenoic acid(DHA) and environmental enrichment on brain fatty acid composition and acetylcholinesterase(AChE) activity, two groups of was fed isocaloric diets containing 10 or 12% dietary lipids for 7 weeks. A third group was fed 10% (w/w) dietary lipids with supplemented 2% DHA-rich fish oil. Each diet group was housed either in a stainless steel cage individually or in a large enriched cage with toys where 7 rats were kept together. The fatty acid composition of plasma and brain was significantly affected by dietary lipid composition but not by environmental enrichment. Fish oil supplementation significanlty decreased plasma levels of monounsaturated fatty acids(MUFA) and increased polyunsaturated fatty acids(PUFA). Fish oil supplemented groups also maintained lower plasma n-6 fatty acids and higher n-3 fatty acids levels than unsupplemented groups. The fish oil supplementation significantly decreased arachidonic acid and increased eicosapentaenic, docosapentaenoic acids, and DHA in brain fatty acid composition. In addition, brain DHA level in supplemented groups tended higher than the unsupplemented. Brain, AChE activity significantly increased by the environmental enrichment but not by the fish oil supplementation. These finding suggest that the 2% fish oil (0.57% DHA & 0.31% EPA, per diet weigth) supplementation is enough to accumulate n-3 fatty acids and to change the n-6 n-3 ratio in brain and environmental enrichment might promote the learning ability.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.44 no.4
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• pp.447-451
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• 2012

In order to investigate the efficacies for cognitive function of edible plants, we measured the inhibitory effects of acetylcholinesterase(AChE) activity, radical scavenging activities, and the contents of GABA and glutamate in the plant extracts. Among the plant extracts, Schizandra chinensis contained the highest GABA 14.8 mg/g and the extracts of Cnidium officinale and Polygonum multiflorum also had a relatively high GABA. On the other hand, plant extracts except, Acorus gramineus, showed similar glutamate contents. S. chinensis, Hovenia dulcis, Thuja orientalis, and Eleutherococcus senticosus exhibited high inhibition against AChE activities at about 18-33% at 1 mg/mL. In addition, strong radical scavenging activities were also detected in those extracts which showed high AChE inhibition. Taken together, H. dulcis, T. orientalis, E. senticosus, and S. chinensis could be effective resources for enhancing cognitive function. Further, it was suggested that the AChE inhibitory activities of plant extracts might be related to antioxidative activity.

• The Korean Journal of Pesticide Science
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.97-101
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• 2005

Flupyrazofos (O,O-diethyl O-1-phenyl-3-trifluoromethylpyrazo-5-yl phosphorothioate) is an organophosphorus insecticide with a pyrazole moiety which is newly developed and commercialized by SUNGBO chemical company and Korean Research Institute of Chemical Technology for effectively control against diamond back moth. This study was conducted to determine the composition and quantity of impurities in technical 1 (94.5%), technical 2 (97.6%) and purified (99.2%) flupyrazofos using GLC/MSD. Bimolecular inhibition rate constant($k_i$) with acethylcholinesterase (in vitro) and $I_{50}$ with mouse brain acetylcholinesterase (in vivo) were measured for comparing inhibitory patterns of two technicals and purified flupyrazofos. Impurities of flupyrazofos were identified as O,O,O-triethylthio-phosphoric acid (TEA), 1-phenyl-3-trifluoromethyl-5-ethoxy pyrazole(PTMEP), O,O-diethyl O-1-phenyl-3-trifluoromethylpyrazo-5-yl phosphoric acid ester(flupyrazofos oxen), O,S-diethyl O-1-phenyl-3-trifluoromethylpyrazo-5-yl phosphorothionate (S-ethyl flupyrazofos). In in vitro, technical 1 showed the fastest inhibition on AChE activity among them. And technical 1 and 2 showed 40% higher in vivo inhibition against mouse brian AChE than purified flupyrazofos did. These results could be caused by the impurities such as flupyrazofos oxen and S-methyl flupyrazofos contained in technical grades of flupyrazofos.

• Mycobiology
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.203-206
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• 2009

To develop new antidementia nutraceuticals, a potent acetylcholinesterase (AChE)-inhibiting extract was screened from various extracts of nutritional mushrooms and lichens nutritional and its physicochemical properties were investigated. Among the several extracts tested, methanol extracts of Umbilicaria esculenta fruiting body showed the highest AChE inhibitory activity of 22.4%. U. esculenta AChE inhibitor was maximally extracted when fruiting bodies were treated with 80% methanol at $40^{\circ}C$ for 18 h. The methanol extracts contained 18.9% crude lipid, 18.8% crude protein, and 11.6% total sugar. In addition, they contained 444 mg/g glutamic acid, 44 mg/g histidine, and 41 mg/g aspartic acid. The methanol extracts were soluble in a solution of methanol and 20% dimethylsulfoxide, insoluble in n-hexane, chloroform, and water, and were stable at $20{\sim}60^{\circ}C$ and pH $1.0{\sim}5.0$ for 1 h.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.341-346
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• 2008

In the present study, we assessed the effects of white ginseng and red ginseng extract on the learning and memory impairments induced by scopolamine. The cognition-enhancing effect of ginseng extracts was investigated using the Morris water maze and Y-maze test. Drug-induced amnesia was induced by treating animals with scopolamine (2 mg/kg, i.p.), an antagonist of muscarinic acetylcholine (ACh) receptor. Tacrine was used a positive control. Ginseng extract (200 mg/kg, p.o.), tacrine (10 mg/kg, p.o.) administration significantly reduced the escape latency during training in the Morris water maze (p<0.05). At the probe trial session, scopolamine significantly increased the escape latency on day 5 in comparison with control (p<0.01). The effect of ginseng extracts on spontaneous alternation in Y-maze was similar to that of scopolamine treated group. In addition, numbers of arm entries were similar in all experimental groups. Moreover, red ginseng extract significantly inhibited acetylcholinesterase activity in the cortex and serum (p<0.05). Brain ACh contents of ginseng extract treated groups increased more than that of scopolamine group, which did not show statistically significant. These results suggest that ginseng extract may be useful for the treatment of cognitive impairment.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.421-428
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• 2011

This study evaluated cholineresterase inhibitory activity of Korean white ginseng extract (WGE), red ginseng extract (RGE), and black ginseng extract (BGE) and the cholinergic effect on scopolamine (SCOP)-induced amnesic mice. WGE, RGE, and BGE inhibited acetylcholineserase (AChE), as well as butyrylcholineserase (BuChE) in a concentration-dependent manner. BGE presented strong inhibition of AChE with an $IC_{50}$ value of 1.72 mg/mL, followed by WGE (5.89 mg/mL), RGE (6.30 mg/mL), respectively. The inhibitory activity of the three ginseng extracts on BuChE showed similar values among the groups. To better understand the mechanisms of the possible effect of ginseng extract on the cholinergic function, this study assessed the expression of the cholinergic markers of choline acetyltransferase (ChAT) and AChE using western blot and RT-PCR analysis in the brains of amnesic mice. Treatment with ginseng extracts led to inhibition of AChE expression and, the activation of ChAT expression in the hippocampus and the cerebral cortex of amnesic mice as induced by SCOP. The results suggest that ginseng extracts including BGE, appear to modulate the metabolism of acetylchoine (ACh), which would greatly increase synaptic ACh levels and most potently revert SCOP-induced amnesia.