Anti-cholinesterase, anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties of Combretum micranthum G. Don: Potential implications in neurodegenerative disease

BACKGROUND: Brain damage is a severe and common pathology that leads to life-threatening diseases. Despite development in the research, the medical evidence of the effectiveness of potential neuroprotective medicines is insufficient. As a result, there is an immense and urgent demand for promising medication. For millennia, herbal remedies were a fundamental aspect of medical treatments. Combretum micranthum (CM), a plant of the family Combretaceae in sub-Saharan Africa, has been utilized in folklore medicine to cure diverse human ailments. In order to develop a neuroprotective phytomedicine, the current research was undertaken to explore the antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anticholinesterase and neuroprotective potential of CM extract. METHODS: Colorimetric methods were used to determine CM antioxidant activity, in-vitro protein denaturation and membrane destabilization assays were used to evaluate its anti-inflammatory capacity, anticholinesterase activity was carried out using Ellman’s method, and neuroprotective potential was assessed on brain homogenate stressed with ferric chloride and ascorbic acid (FeCl(2)-AA) by assessing the lipoperoxidation biomarker malondialdehyde (MDA). RESULTS: In Ferric Reducing Antioxidant Power (IC(50) = 27.15 ± 0.06 µg/mL) and Total Antioxidant Capacity (IC(50) = 31.13 ± 0.02 µg/mL), CM extract demonstrated strong antioxidant activity. Anti-inflammatory effect were improved in heat-induced Egg albumin and BSA denaturation (IC (50) = 46.35 ± 1.53 and 23.94 ± 1.10 µg/mL) as well as heat and hypotonia induced membrane destabilization (IC (50) = 20.96 ± 0.11 and 16.75 ± 0.94 µg/mL). CM extract showed strong anticholinesterase activity (IC (50) = 59.85 ± 0.91 µg/mL). In an ex-vivo neuroprotective model, CM extract showed substantial inhibition (p < 0.001) of oxidative damage caused by FeCl(2)-AA in brain tissue. CONCLUSION: C. micranthum may be a good candidate for its probable neuroprotective potential. Its neuroprotective benefits might be attributed to its antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and anticholinesterase effects.