Screening of siddha medicinal plants for its in‑vitro acetylcholinesterase and butyrylcholinesterase inhibitory activity

Background: The plants selected for the study were traditionally used in siddha system of medicine in neurological disorders. Aim: The aim of the following study isto screen the plant species for both acetylcholinesterase (AchE) and butyrylcholinesterase (BuchE) inhibition by in‑vitro Ellman’s method and a thin layer chromatography bioautographic assay for newer drug candidates for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease. Materials and Methods: Ellman’s colorimetric method was performed in a 96 well micro plate for cholinesterases inhibition using galantamine as standard drug. Results: Present studies confirmed that out of all the tested extracts Hemidesmus indicus R.Br (HI) showed considerable IC50 values for AchE (28.40 ± 0.92 µg/mL) and BuchE (43.47 ± 0.64 µg/mL) inhibition which indicates that HI extract has considerable specificity toward AchE and BuchE compared with all the tested extracts and the activity was followed by Vernonia anthelmintica (VA) Willd and Saussurea lappa Clarke (SL). The bioautograms also confirmed the activity potent extracts. Conclusion: Besides various bioactivities HI, VA and SL exhibited considerable cholinesterases inhibition making it to consider these species for further investigation of new compounds.