IMR Press / FBL / Volume 28 / Issue 8 / DOI: 10.31083/j.fbl2808184
Retraction published on 26 April 2024, see Frontiers in Bioscience-Landmark 2024, 29(4)
Open Access Original Research
Neuroprotection against Aluminum Chloride-Induced Hippocampus Damage in Albino Wistar Rats by Leucophyllum frutescens (Berl.) I.M. Johnst. Leaf Extracts: A Detailed Insight into Phytochemical Analysis and Antioxidant and Enzyme Inhibition Assays
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1 Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy, The Islamia University of Bahawalpur, 63100 Punjab, Pakistan
2 Primary and Secondary Health Care Department, Government of Punjab, 63100 Punjab, Pakistan
3 Department of Medicinal Chemistry, College of Pharmacy, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA
4 Department of Pharmacognosy, Faculty of Pharmacy, Gazi University, 06330 Ankara, Turkey
5 Department of Pharmaceutics, Faculty of Pharmacy, The Islamia University of Bahawalpur, 63100 Punjab, Pakistan
6 Instituto de Investigación y Postgrado, Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad Central de Chile, 8330507 Santiago, Chile
7 Department of Organic Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Santiago de Compostela, 15782 Santiago de Compostela, Spain
*Correspondence: esrak@gazi.edu.tr (Esra Küpeli Akkol); eduardo.sobarzo@ucentral.cl (Eduardo Sobarzo-Sánchez)
Front. Biosci. (Landmark Ed) 2023, 28(8), 184; https://doi.org/10.31083/j.fbl2808184
Submitted: 19 April 2023 | Revised: 3 July 2023 | Accepted: 17 July 2023 | Published: 28 August 2023
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Plant Bioactive Molecules)
Copyright: © 2023 The Author(s). Published by IMR Press.
This is an open access article under the CC BY 4.0 license.
Abstract

Background: A previously unstudied medicinal plant, Leucophyllum frutescens (Berland.) I.M. Johnst. (Scrophulariaceae) was investigated to evaluate its potential in preventing and treating neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer’s disease. Methods: Methanolic leaf extract (MELE) and its fractions (HELE, CHLE, and BULE) were evaluated for their polyphenolic content and antioxidant activity by five different methods, including in vitro enzyme inhibition assays, which are clinically linked to neurodegenerative diseases. The potentially active n-butanol fraction (BULE) was further evaluated for its neuroprotective effects using an albino rat animal model and phytoconstituents profiling using Liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry (LC–MS/MS), and in silico molecular docking by Maestro® Schrödinger. Results: The n-butanol fraction (BULE) in the hydroalcoholic leaf extract exhibited the highest total phenolic content (230.435 ± 1.575 mg gallic acid equivalent gm-1± SD). The chloroform leaf extract exhibited the highest total flavonoid content (293.343 ± 3.756 mg quercetin equivalent gm-1± SD) as well as the highest antioxidant content, which was equivalent to Trolox, with five assay methods. Similarly, the chloroform and n-butanol fractions from the hydroalcoholic leaf extract significantly inhibited human acetylcholinesterase and butyrylcholinesterase with their IC50 values of 12.14 ± 0.85 and 129.73 ± 1.14 µg∙mL-1, respectively. The in vivo study revealed that BULE exhibited a significant neuroprotective effect at doses of 200 and 400 mg/kg/day in an aluminum chloride-induced neurodegenerative albino rat model. The LC–MS/MS analysis of BULE tentatively confirmed the presence of biologically active secondary metabolites, such as theobromine, propyl gallate, quercetin-3-O-glucoside, myricetin-3-acetylrhamnoside, isoquercitrin-6-O-malonate, diosmetin-7-O-glucuronide-3-O-pentose, pinoresinol diglucoside, asarinin, eridictoyl, epigallocatechin, methyl gallate derivative, and eudesmin. The results from the computational molecular docking of the identified secondary metabolites revealed that diosmetin-7-O-glucuronide-3-O-pentose had the highest binding affinity to human butyrylcholinesterase, while isoquercetin-6-O-malonate had the highest to human acetylcholinesterase, and pinoresinol diglucoside to human salivary alpha-amylase. Conclusions: The present study concluded a need for further exploration into this medicinal plant, including the isolation of the bioactive compounds responsible for its neuroprotective effects.

Keywords
antioxidant activity
enzyme inhibition assay
liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry
Leucophyllum frutescens
Scrophulariaceae
polyphenolic content
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