Anti-inflammatory and acetylcholinesterase activity of extract, fractions and five compounds isolated from the leaves and twigs of Artemisia annua growing in Cameroon

Rosine D K Chougouo¹, Yves M M Nguekeu², Jean P Dzoyem³, Maurice D Awouafack², Jonas Kouamouo⁴, Pierre Tane², Lyndy J McGaw⁵, Jacobus N Eloff⁵

Affiliations

¹ Laboratory of Natural Products Chemistry, Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, University of Dschang, P.O. Box 67, Dschang, Cameroon ; Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Université des Montagnes, Bangangté, Cameroon.
² Laboratory of Natural Products Chemistry, Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, University of Dschang, P.O. Box 67, Dschang, Cameroon.
³ Phytomedicine Programme, Department of Paraclinical Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Pretoria, Private Bag X04, Onderstepoort 0110, Pretoria, South Africa ; Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Science, University of Dschang, P.O. Box 67, Dschang, Cameroon.
⁴ Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Université des Montagnes, Bangangté, Cameroon.
⁵ Phytomedicine Programme, Department of Paraclinical Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Pretoria, Private Bag X04, Onderstepoort 0110, Pretoria, South Africa.

PMID: 27652098
PMCID: PMC5017989
DOI: 10.1186/s40064-016-3199-9

Anti-inflammatory and acetylcholinesterase activity of extract, fractions and five compounds isolated from the leaves and twigs of Artemisia annua growing in Cameroon

Rosine D K Chougouo et al. Springerplus. 2016.

. 2016 Sep 9;5(1):1525.

doi: 10.1186/s40064-016-3199-9. eCollection 2016.

Authors

Rosine D K Chougouo¹, Yves M M Nguekeu², Jean P Dzoyem³, Maurice D Awouafack², Jonas Kouamouo⁴, Pierre Tane², Lyndy J McGaw⁵, Jacobus N Eloff⁵

Affiliations

¹ Laboratory of Natural Products Chemistry, Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, University of Dschang, P.O. Box 67, Dschang, Cameroon ; Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Université des Montagnes, Bangangté, Cameroon.
² Laboratory of Natural Products Chemistry, Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, University of Dschang, P.O. Box 67, Dschang, Cameroon.
³ Phytomedicine Programme, Department of Paraclinical Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Pretoria, Private Bag X04, Onderstepoort 0110, Pretoria, South Africa ; Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Science, University of Dschang, P.O. Box 67, Dschang, Cameroon.
⁴ Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Université des Montagnes, Bangangté, Cameroon.
⁵ Phytomedicine Programme, Department of Paraclinical Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Pretoria, Private Bag X04, Onderstepoort 0110, Pretoria, South Africa.

PMID: 27652098
PMCID: PMC5017989
DOI: 10.1186/s40064-016-3199-9

Abstract

Background: Natural products, including those derived from higher plants have, over the years, contributed greatly to the development of modern therapeutic drugs. Due to the medicinal importance in traditional practice and the diversified biology and chemistry of the constituents from Artemisia spp., the genus has been receiving growing attention. The aim of this study was to investigate the ability of the ethanol extract, four fractions (F1-F4) and five compounds namely artemisinin (1), scopoletin (2), chrysosplenetin (3), eupatin (4) and 3-O-β-d-glucopyranoside of sitosterol (5) isolated from A. annua to modulate the activity of anticholinesterase (AchE) and the production of nitric oxide (NO) in LPS-activated RAW 264.7 macrophages.

Results: At the lowest concentration tested (6.25 µg/mL), the crude extract and fraction F2 had the highest NO inhibitory activity (72.39 and 71.00 % inhibition respectively) without significant toxicity on the viability of macrophage cells (93.86 and 79.87 % of cell viability respectively). The crude extract inhibited AchE activity by 71.83 % (at 1 mg/mL) with an IC50 value of 87.43 µg/mL while F2 and F4 were the most active fractions (IC50 values of 36.75 and 28.82 µg/mL). Artemisinin (1) and chrysosplenetin (3) had the highest AChE activity with 71.67 and 80.00 % inhibition (at 0.1 mg/mL) and IC50 values of 29.34 and 27.14 µg/mL, respectively.

Conclusion: Our results validate the traditional use of A. annua and could help to support the usefulness of this plant in the treatment of inflammatory and neurological disorders especially where nitric oxide and a cholinesterase are involved.

Keywords: Acetylcholinesterase; Artemisia annua; Nitric oxide; Phytochemical constituents.

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Figures

**Fig. 1**
Chemical structures of compounds isolated from *Artemisia annua:* artemisinin (1), scopoletin (2), chrysosplenetin (3), eupatin (4) and 3-O-β-d-glucopyranoside of sitosterol (5)

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Anti-inflammatory and acetylcholinesterase activity of extract, fractions and five compounds isolated from the leaves and twigs of Artemisia annua growing in Cameroon

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Anti-inflammatory and acetylcholinesterase activity of extract, fractions and five compounds isolated from the leaves and twigs of Artemisia annua growing in Cameroon

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