Phytochemical Quantification and the In Vitro Acetylcholinesterase Inhibitory Activity of Phellodendron chinense and Its Components

The dried bark of Phellodendron chinense has been used as a traditional herbal medicine to remove damp heat, relieve consumptive fever, and cure dysentery and diarrhea. In the present study, we performed quantitative analyses of the two components of P. chinense, phellodendrine and berberine, using high-performance liquid chromatography. A 70% ethanol extract of P. chinense was prepared and the two components were separated on a C-18 analytical column using a gradient solvent system of acetonitrile and 0.1% (v/v) aqueous trifluoroacetic acid. The ultraviolet wavelength used for detection was 200 nm for phellodendrine and 226 nm for berberine. The analytical method established here showed high linearity (correlation coefficient, ≥0.9991). The amount of phellodendrine and berberine used was 22.255 ± 0.123 mg/g and 269.651 ± 1.257 mg/g, respectively. Moreover, we performed an in vitro acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activity assay and an amyloid-β aggregation test to examine the biological properties of phellodendrine and berberine as therapeutic drugs for Alzheimer’s disease. Phellodendrine and berberine inhibited AChE activity in a dose-dependent manner (IC(50) = 36.51 and 0.44 μM, respectively). In contrast, neither phellodendrine nor berberine had an effect on amyloid-β aggregation. The P. chinense extract and phellodendrine, but not berberine, exhibited antioxidant activity by increasing radical scavenging activity. Moreover, P. chinense demonstrated a neuroprotective effect in hydrogen peroxide-treated HT22 hippocampal cells. Overall, our findings suggest that P. chinense has potential as an anti-Alzheimer’s agent via the suppression of the enzymatic activity of acetylcholinesterase and the stimulation of antioxidant activity.