Chemical characterization and anticholinesterase effects of essential oils derived from Salvia species

Abstract

Inhibitory effect of Salvia species herbal preparations on acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and butylcholinesterase (BuChE) activitiy may contribute to regulation of cognitive performance and impaired cholinergic functions in patients with Alzheimer’s disease. This functional role of Salvia species and their components makes the investigations on Salvia valuable in medicine-related plant research. Within this work it was aimed to investigate the in vitro anti-cholinesterase effect of essential oils derived from ten Salvia species, which grow in Turkey. The chemical composition of essential oils were characterized by gas chromatography (GC) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), respectively. Results showed that all of the essential oils exhibited AChE inhibitory activity. S. pseudeuphratica, S. hydrangea and S. divaricata essential oils demonstrated the most potent AChE inhibitory effect [50% inhibition concentration (IC₅₀) = 26.00 ± 2.00 μg/mL, 40.0 ± 4.00, 64.68 ± 4.16, respectively]. The essential oil of S. pseudeuphratica demonstrated the highest inhibitory activity against AChE and BuChE among the tested Salvia essential oils. Evidences from the our study augment the importance of essential oils obtained from Salvia species and may support utilization of Salvia species for symptomatic treatment of Alzheimer disease.

Keywords:

• Acetylcholinesterase
• butylcholinesterase
• Salvia species
• essential oil
• phytochemistry

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank TUBITAK-TBAG-Project no: 106T117 and 104T450, for infrastructure. This work was presented at the 41st International Symposium on Essential Oils, 5–8 September 2010, Wroclaw, Poland.