Natural β-Dihydroagarofuran-Type Sesquiterpenoids as Cognition-Enhancing and Neuroprotective Agents from Medicinal Plants of the Genus Celastrus

J Nat Prod. 2015 Sep 25;78(9):2175-86. doi: 10.1021/acs.jnatprod.5b00234. Epub 2015 Aug 21.

Abstract

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is an irreversible, multifaceted, and progressive neurodegenerative disorder. Over the past 30 years, the search for anti-AD drugs has been primarily based on the cholinergic deficiency hypothesis and/or the β-amyloid (Aβ) cascade hypothesis. In this study, we report the identification of 16 new and 38 known β-dihydroagarofuran-type sesquiterpenoids from Celastrus flagellaris and Celastrus angulatus. The β-dihydroagarofuran-type sesquiterpenoids 58, 59, 61, and 63 significantly attenuated scopolamine-induced prolonged escape latency and increased number of errors compared with the control group. At 10 μM, 21 of the 62 tested β-dihydroagarofuran-type sesquiterpenoids rescued Aβ25-35-induced SH-SY5Y cells from viability reduction, which increased the cell viability from 64.6% for the model to more than 74.0%. The majority of the β-dihydroagarofuran-type sesquiterpenoids with ester groups exhibited stronger activity than those with free hydroxy groups or without substituents at the same positions. These results identified a new chemical skeleton as drug lead for the investigation of novel therapeutic agents against AD.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Alzheimer Disease / drug therapy*
  • Amyloid beta-Peptides / drug effects
  • Celastrus / chemistry*
  • Cell Survival / drug effects
  • Cognition / drug effects
  • Esters
  • Humans
  • Molecular Structure
  • Neuroprotective Agents / chemistry
  • Neuroprotective Agents / isolation & purification*
  • Neuroprotective Agents / pharmacology*
  • Nuclear Magnetic Resonance, Biomolecular
  • Peptide Fragments / drug effects
  • Plants, Medicinal / chemistry*
  • Sesquiterpenes / chemistry
  • Sesquiterpenes / isolation & purification*
  • Sesquiterpenes / pharmacology*

Substances

  • Amyloid beta-Peptides
  • Esters
  • Neuroprotective Agents
  • Peptide Fragments
  • Sesquiterpenes
  • amyloid beta-protein (25-35)
  • dihydroagarofuran