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Plant-derived acetylcholinesterase inhibitory alkaloids for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease
Authors Dall'Acqua S
Received 18 February 2012
Accepted for publication 26 September 2012
Published 11 January 2013 Volume 2013:3 Pages 19—28
DOI https://doi.org/10.2147/BTAT.S17297
Review by Single anonymous peer review
Peer reviewer comments 2
Stefano Dall'Acqua
Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
Abstract: The inhibition of acetylcholinesterase (AChE) has been one of the most used strategies for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease (AD). The AChE inhibitors (AChE-I) produce not only short-term symptomatic effects, but can also play a role in other pathological mechanisms of the disease (eg, formation of amyloid-β plaques), which has renewed interest in the discovery of such inhibitors. Four of the five currently prescribed treatments for AD are AChE-I. Natural alkaloids such as galantamine or alkaloid-related synthetic compounds (such as rivastigmine) are considered beneficial for patients with mild-to-moderate AD. However, there is a need for the discovery of more effective compounds and for this reason, plants can still be a potential source of new AChE-I. Findings and advances in knowledge about natural alkaloids as potential new drugs acting as AChE-I will be summarized in this paper.
Keywords: quinolizidine, steroidal, indole, isoquinoline
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