Asparagus adscendens root extract enhances cognition and protects against scopolamine induced amnesia: An in-silico and in-vivo studies
Introduction
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disorder has been characterized by a progressive loss of cognitive abilities, leading to learning and memory dysfunctioning in everyday activities [1], [2]. According to the WHO, it affects nearly 47.5 million people worldwide, which is likely to be increased to 75.6 million by 2030 [3]. Dysfunctioning of cholinergic system and elevated oxidative stress in forebrain and hippocampus appears to play a critical role in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease [4], [5], [6]. Currently, acetylcholinesterase inhibitors such as physostigmine, tacrine and donepezil are widely used for the treatment of AD, which are known to increase the availability of acetylcholine in cholinergic synapses [7], [8]. However, the adverse effects such as loss of appetite, vomiting, headache, diarrhea, narrow therapeutic range, hepatotoxicity etc. limit their use [9], [10]. Therefore, it is an urgent need to find complementary and alternative medicines (CAM) for the management of AD. Several medicinal plants and their phytoconstituents have shown the neuroprotective and cognition enhancing properties in experimental model of AD [11], [12], [13].
Asparagus adscendens Roxb. (Liliaceae) commonly known as safed musali or dholi musali, is a climbing herb found mainly in Asian countries. It has been attributed to a number of therapeutic uses in traditional medicine system such as diarrhea, dysentery, sexual debilities, nerve tonic and as a remedy in memory impairment [14]. The literature revealed that A. adscendens roots have been investigated for antifilarial [15], Insulin enhancing [16], antistress [17], Chemomodulatory [18], aphrodisiac [19] and antioxidant activities [18], [20], [21]. Moreover, the available literature reveals that this plant has not been explored with respect to its therapeutic potential as nootropic activity. Also, nowadays the virtual screening of the phytochemical is believed to be a useful tool for drug discovery beyond their ethnic use [22]. Therefore, an effort has been made to explore the pharmacological activities of A. adscendens root using Prediction of Activity Spectra for Substances (PASS) and Pharmaexpert. A PASS based analysis (Table 1) revealed the presence of different bioactive phytoconstituents which might be responsible for nootropic potential with the most significant possibility of getting effective in the management of Alzheimer's disease. Hence, based on traditional knowledge and in silico support the present study was envisaged to evaluate nootropic and anti-amnesic activities of Asparagus adscendens extract (AAE).
Section snippets
Drugs and chemicals
Shatavarin IV was procured from Natural Remedies Private Limited (Bangalore, India), Piracetam was obtained as a gift sample from Micro Labs Ltd. (Bangalore, India) and Griess reagent was procured from Sigma-Aldrich, Company (St. Louis, MO, USA). All other chemicals used in the present study were of analytic grade.
Animals
Swiss albino mice, weighing 20–30 g were purchased from Lala Lajpat Rai University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Hisar, Haryana. The animals were housed on a 12 h light/dark
In silico screening of A. adscendens root phytoconstituents
So far, 23 phytoconstituents have been reported as per literature, 3-heptadecanone, 8-hexadecenoic acid, methyl pentacosanoate, tetratriacontane, tritriacontane, methyl palmitate, tetracosyl tetracosanoate, palmitic acid, stearic acid, asparanin C, asparanin D, asparoside C, asparoside D, 3-β-O-{β-D-2-tetracosylxylopyranosyl}-stigmasterol, 3-β-O-{β-d-glucopyranosyl (1–2)-α-l-arabinopyranosyl}-stigmasterol, β-sitosterol-β-D-glucoside, Shatavarin IV, stigmasterol, sarsasapogenin, xanthophyll,
Discussion
The PASS prediction spectra of phytoconstituents present in Asparagus adscendens roots revealed the excellent score for nootropic potential. Also, the above predicted nootropic potential was further supported by relevant mechanisms as analyzed by Pharmaexpert. The predictive values of these in silico tools have been validated in our laboratory as well as by other laboratories too [24], [41], [42], [43]. Therefore, based on the excellent score in PASS prediction, the nootropic and anti-amnesic
Acknowledgement
The authors are deeply grateful to the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Pusa, New Delhi, India for providing financial assistance [Vide F.No. 38(1339)/12/EMR-II] for the project, and project fellowship to Miss. Priyanka Pahwa. We are also thankful to Dr. Bikram Singh, CSIR- Institute of Himalayan Bioresource Technology, Palampur, H.P. for the authentication of plant material.
References (77)
- et al.
Effects of Lavender oil on improving scopolamine-induced spatial memory impairment in laboratory rats
Phytomedicine
(2012) - et al.
Hippocampal memory enhancing activity of pine needle extract against scopolamine-induced amnesia in a mouse model
Sci. Rep.
(2015) - et al.
The cholinergic system and hippocampal plasticity
Behav. Res.
(2011) - et al.
Cognitive-enhancing and antioxidant activities of iridoid glycosides from Scrophularia buergeriana in scopolamine-treated mice
Eur. J. Pharmacol.
(2008) - et al.
KD-501, a standardized extract of Scrophularia buergeriana has both cognitive-enhancing and antioxidant activities in mice given scopolamine
J. Ethnopharmacol.
(2009) - et al.
Loganin improves learning and memory impairments induced by scopolamine in mice
Eur. J. Pharmacol.
(2009) - et al.
Total isoflavones from soyabean and tempeh reversed scopolamine-induced amnesia, improved cholinergic activities and reduced neuroinflammation in brain
Food. Chem. Toxicol.
(2014) - et al.
Protective effects of total alkaloidal extract from Murraya koenigii leaves on experimentally induced dementia
Food. Chem. Toxicol.
(2012) - et al.
The memory-enhancing effect of erucic acid on scopolamine-induced cognitive impairment in mice
Pharmacol. Biochem. Behav.
(2016) - et al.
Structural insights to investigate Conypododiol as a dual cholinesterase inhibitor from Asparagus adscendens
Fitoterapia
(2010)
Systematic evaluation of natural phenolic antioxidants from 133 Indian medicinal plants
Food. Chem.
Pharmacological validation of in silico guided novel nootropic potential of Achyranthes aspera L
J. Ethnopharmacol.
A note on a simple apparatus for detecting neurological deficit in rats and mice
J. Am. Pharm. Assoc. Am. Pharm. Assoc. Balt.
Depressants of the central nervous system
Cognitive-enhancing and antioxidant activities of inhaled coriander volatile oil in amyloid β (1-42) rat model of Alzheimer's disease
Physiol. Behav.
Utility of TBARS assay in detecting oxidative stress in white sucker (Catostomus commersoni) populations exposed to pulp mill effluent
Aquat. Toxicol.
Assay of catalase and peroxidases
Met. Enzymol.
Ameliorative effect of Curcumin on seizure severity, depression like behavior, learning and memory deficit in post pentylenetetrazole-kindled mice
Eur. J. Pharmacol.
A new and rapid colorimetric determination of acetylcholinesterase activity
Biochem. Pharmacol.
Revealing pharmacodynamics of medicinal plants using in silico Approach: a case study with wet lab validation
Comput. Biol. Med.
Astaxanthin ameliorates aluminum chloride-induced spatial memory impairment and neuronal oxidative stress in mice
Eur. J. Pharmacol.
Learning about cognition risk with the radial-arm maze in the developmental neurotoxicology battery
Neurotoxicol. Teratol.
Hippocampal AP5 treatment impairs both spatial working and reference memory in radial maze performance in rats
Eur. J. Pharmacol.
Hypobaric hypoxia-induced dendritic atrophy of hippocampal neurons is associated with cognitive impairment in adult rats
Neurosci
An inverted U-shaped curve for heptylphysostigmine on radial maze performance in rats: comparison with other cholinesterase inhibitors
Eur. J. Pharmacol.
Cholinesterase inhibitors and memory
Chem. Biol. Interact.
Increased peroxidation and reduced antioxidant enzyme activity in Alzheimer's disease
Exp. Neurol.
Noradrenergic mediation of the memory-enhancing effect of corticotropin-releasing factor in the locus coeruleus of rats
Psychoneuroendocrinology
A distinct role for norepinephrine in memory retrieval
Cell.
The cholinergic hypothesis of geriatric memory dysfunctioning
Science
Oxidative damage, protein synthesis, and protein degradation in Alzheimer's diasease
Curr. Alzheimer’s. Res.
Pharmacological evaluation of novel Alzheimer's disease therapeutics: acetylcholinesterase inhibitors related to galanthamine
J. Pharmacol. Exp. Ther.
Potential antifilarial activity of roots of Asparagus adscendens Roxb, against setaria cervi in vitro
Indian. J. Exp. Biol.
Asparagus adscendens (Shweta musli) stimulates insulin secretion, insulin action and inhibits starch digestion
Br. J. Nutr.
Effects of Chlorophytum arundinaceum, Asparagus adscendens and Asparagus racemosus on pro-inflammatory cytokine and corticosterone levels produced by stress
Phytother. Res.
Chemomodulatory potential of Asparagus adscendens against murine skin and forestomach papillomagenesis
Eur. J. Cancer. Prev.
Dose-dependent effects of Asparagus adscendens root (AARR) extract on the anabolic, reproductive and sexual behavioural activity in rats
Pharm. Biol.
Cited by (17)
Neuro-nutraceutical potential of Asparagus racemosus: A review
2021, Neurochemistry InternationalAmeliorative effect of deoxyvasicine on scopolamine-induced cognitive dysfunction by restoration of cholinergic function in mice
2019, PhytomedicineCitation Excerpt :In order to further elucidate the underlying mechanism of memory improving effects of DVAS in the scopolamine-treated mice, alterations of histopathology, cholinergic system, BDNF excretion, inflammation and oxidative stress were assessed. Moreover, histopathologic changes, attenuated cholinergic function, elevated inflammation and oxidative stress were found in the scopolamine-induced mice as previous reports (Li et al., 2018b; Pahwa and Goel, 2016). Huperzine-A is used as a Chinese marketed drug to improve the cognition and memory of AD patients and as a memory enhancing dietary supplement in USA (Damar et al., 2017), and it can remarkedly ameliorate these changes in scopolamine-treated mice and enhance their learning and memory in this study.
Antiamnesic effect of Mesua ferrea (L.) flowers on scopolamine-induced memory impairment and oxidative stress in rats
2023, Advances in Traditional MedicineCombinatory Approaches Targeting Cognitive Impairments and Memory Enhancement: A Review
2023, Current Drug Targets