1. J Ethnopharmacol. 2010 Oct 5;131(3):585-91. Epub 2010 Jul 29.

In vitro screening on β-amyloid peptide production of plants used in traditional 
medicine for cognitive disorders.

Hage S, Kienlen-Campard P, Octave JN, Quetin-Leclercq J.

Pharmacognosy Research Group, Louvain Drug Research Institute, Université
Catholique de Louvain, Avenue E Mounier 72-30, B-1200 Brussels
Woluwe-Saint-Lambert, Belgium. Salim.Hage@uclouvain.be

AIM OF THE STUDY: The aim of the study was to investigate the activity on
β-amyloid peptide production of crude extracts of 9 plant species traditionally
used in Benin or in Madagascar for the treatment of cognitive disorders, in order
to select candidates for Alzheimer's disease treatment.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: For each species, hexane, dichloromethane, ethyl-acetate
and water extracts were tested, at non-toxic concentrations, on CHO cells
overexpressing the human neuronal β-amyloid peptide precursor (APP695) to measure
variations of APP processing (by Western-blotting) and, for the most active, of
Aβ-amyloid production (by ECLIA).
RESULTS: We observed, at non-toxic concentrations, a significant increase in
CTF/APP ratio with Oldenlandia affinis cyclotide-enriched fraction, Prosopis
africana EtOAc extract, Pterocarpus erinaceus aqueous extract and Trichilia
emetica hexane extract. We also showed that the Pterocarpus erinaceus extract
significantly decreased Aβ production, displaying effects similar to those of
DAPT (γ-secretase inhibitor) on APP processing, but may act on another inhibition
site.
CONCLUSION: These active extracts are worth further studies to isolate the
compounds responsible for the observed activities, to analyze their mode of
action and determine their clinical potentials.


PMID: 20673795 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]