Herbal Cramp Bark (Viburnum opulus), the Potential Acetylcholinesterase Inhibitor

By Kyle J. Norton

The brain of mammals contains two major forms of cholinesterases: acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and butyrylcholinesterase (BuChE).

Acetylcholinesterase (AChE) is the primary enzyme that hydrolyzes the neurotransmitter acetylcholine to choline and acetate.

Altered levels of ACh in the nervous system have been found to induce several neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and Huntington, depending on the affected areas.

Butyrylcholinesterase (BuChE) enzyme plays a minor role in regulating brain acetylcholine (ACh) levels.

A cholinergic neuron is a nerve cell which mainly is used by  the neurotransmitter acetylcholine (ACh) to send its messages

Impairment of the cholinergic neuronal system in the brain was involved in the underlying event of cognitive impairment.

Cholinesterase inhibitors (ChEI) has been used for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease (AD).

Cramp Bark is an ornamental plant, genus Viburnum, belongings to the family Adoxaceae, native to Europe and Asia. It has been used in traditional and herbal medicine as anti-spasmodic, anti-inflammatory, nervine. hypotensive agent and to treat menstrual cramps and pain, afterbirth, postpartum pains, excessive blood loss in periods, bleeding associated with the menopause, etc.

On finding a potential herbal medicine for the prevention and treatment of associated with neurodegenerative diseases, researchers examined ethyl acetate, methanol, and water extracts prepared from the branches, leaves, and fruits of Viburnum opulus and Viburnum lantana along with salicin on acetylcholinesterase (AChE) inhibitory and antioxidant activities.

In vitro, according to the results from an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, the leaf methanol extract of V. opulus displayed a significantly high inhibitory effect against AChE at 50, 100, and 200 μL/mL concentrations of 57.63%, 87%, and 93%, respectively compared to other extracts.

In other words, the leaf methanol extract of V. opulus showed the highest protective activity against the disruption of neuron in the induction of neurodegenerative diseases linearly in a doses dependent-manner.

Compared to Viburnum opulus, the extracts of V. lantana exerted higher antioxidant activity.

Taken altogether, cramp bark(Viburnum opulus) leaves may be considered a functional acetylcholinesterase inhibitor herb medicine for the prevention and treatment of neurodegenerative diseases, pending to the confirmation of the larger sample size and multicenter human study.

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Author Biography
Kyle J. Norton (Scholar, Master of Nutrition, All right reserved)
Health article writer and researcher; Over 10.000 articles and research papers have been written and published online, including worldwide health, ezine articles, article base, health blogs, self-growth, best before it's news, the karate GB daily, etc.,.
Named TOP 50 MEDICAL ESSAYS FOR ARTISTS & AUTHORS TO READ by Disilgold.com Named 50 of the best health Tweeters Canada - Huffington Post
Nominated for shorty award over last 4 years
Some articles have been used as references in medical research, such as international journal Pharma and Bioscience, ISSN 0975-6299.

Sources
(1) Anti-acetylcholinesterase and antioxidant assets of the major components (salicin, amentoflavone, and chlorogenic acid) and the extracts of Viburnum opulus and Viburnum lantana and their total phenol and flavonoid contents by Erdogan-Orhan I1, Altun ML, Sever-Yilmaz B, Saltan G. (PubMed)