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. 2011 Oct;63(10):1368-71.
doi: 10.1111/j.2042-7158.2011.01344.x. Epub 2011 Aug 19.

Myrtenal inhibits acetylcholinesterase, a known Alzheimer target

Dorothea Kaufmann  1 , Anudeep Kaur Dogra, Michael Wink
Affiliations

Myrtenal inhibits acetylcholinesterase, a known Alzheimer target

Dorothea Kaufmann et al. J Pharm Pharmacol. 2011 Oct.

Abstract

Objectives: Inhibition of acetylcholinesterase (AChE) is a common treatment for early stages of the most general form of dementia, Alzheimer's disease. In this study selected components of essential oils, which carry a variety of important functional groups, were tested for their in-vitro anti-acetylcholinesterase activity.

Methods: In-vitro anti-acetylcholinesterase activity was measured by an adapted version of Ellman's colorimetric assay.

Key findings: 1,8-cineole, carvacrol, myrtenal and verbenone apparently inhibited AChE; the highest inhibitory activity was observed for myrtenal (IC50 = 0.17 mm). This is the first study showing the AChE inhibitory activity of myrtenal.

Conclusions: Our investigations provided evidence for the efficacy of monoterpenes as inhibitors of AChE.

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