Estudo cinético da atividade anticolinesterásica de derivados ß- Carbolínicos do produto natural harmana

Abstract

The increase in life expectancy is a worldwide occurrence that shows the relative success of public health politics, and Brazil is among the countries where people are living longer and in better physical health. But the increase in life expectancy has a negative effect: the appearance of degenerative diseases typical of old age, including several forms of dementia, like Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) that is certainly the most important. It is an irreversible and progressive disease characterized by neuronal deterioration that results in loss of cognitive functions such as memory, communication skills, judgment and reasoning. Donepezil, rivastigmine and galantamine are medicines used for the treatment of AD and act reversibly inhibiting the acetylcholinesterase (AChE). Evidences suggest that the enzyme butyrylcholinesterase (BChE), closely related to AChE, plays a significant role in AD because it is involved in neural functions such as cholinergic co-regulation and non-cholinergic neurotransmission. The aim of this research is to provide new substances with anticholinesterase action by using ß-carboline derivatives from the natural product harmane and carry out a kinetic study to determine the inhibition profile of the enzymes AChE e BChE, which could help in the discovery of new compounds which could be useful in the treatment of AD. Firstly, a screening was carried out with seven ß-carboline derivatives. In a second stage, a kinetic investigation, employing Ellman’s method, was run with these compounds and all of them presented high anticholinesterase action for both AChE and BChE. All seven derivatives presented a non-competitive reversible inhibition.