title: Anti-amnestic activity of pseudocoptisine from Corydalis Tuber.
abstract: Pseudocoptisine, a quaternary alkaloid with benzylisoquinoline skeleton, was isolated from Corydalis Tuber, one of the important medicinal plants in traditional medicine. Pseudocoptisine inhibited acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activity in a dose-dependent manner, and the concentration required for 50% inhibition was 12.8 microM. In further study, the anti-amnesic activities of pseudocoptisine in mice on the learning and memory impairments induced by scopolamine (1.0 mg/kg, i.p.) were examined. This alkaloid (2.0 mg/kg, p.o.) administration significantly reversed cognitive impairments in mice by passive avoidance test (p<0.05). It also reduced escape latencies in training trials and prolonged swimming times in the target quadrant during the probe trial in the water maze task (p<0.05). These results indicate that pseudocoptisine has anti-cholinesterase and anti-amnesic activities that may be useful for cognitive impairment treatment.
authors.affiliation: College of Pharmacy, Chungnam National University, Daejeon 305-764, Korea.
authors.forename: Tran Manh
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Hung
authors.forename: Tran Minh
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Ngoc
authors.forename: Ui Joung
authors.initials: UJ
authors.lastname: Youn
authors.forename: Byung Sun
authors.initials: BS
authors.lastname: Min
authors.forename: Minkyun
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Na
authors.forename: Phuong Thien
authors.initials: PT
authors.lastname: Thuong
authors.forename: Kihwan
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Bae
mesh_terms: D000647:Amnesia / Q000188:drug therapy*; D000818:Animals; D044182:Benzylisoquinolines / Q000494:pharmacology*; D002800:Cholinesterase Inhibitors / Q000494:pharmacology*; D031311:Corydalis / Q000737:chemistry*; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D008297:Male; D018782:Maze Learning / Q000187:drug effects; D051379:Mice; D008813:Mice, Inbred ICR; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley
chemical_list: D044182:Benzylisoquinolines; D002800:Cholinesterase Inhibitors; C526231:pseudocoptisine