ABSTRACT
Carica papaya is a medicinal and fruit plant owing biological activities including antioxidant, antiviral, antibacterial and anticancer. The present study aims to investigate the acetyl (AChE) and butyryl (BChE) cholinesterase inhibitory potentials of C. papaya extracts as well as their chemical compositions. The chemical composition of the active extract was identified using a gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GCMS). Ellman enzyme inhibition assay showed that the alkaloid-enriched leaf extract of C. papaya possessed significant anti-BChE activity with an enzyme inhibition of 75.9%. GC-MS analysis showed that the alkaloid extract composed mainly the carpaine (64.9%) – a major papaya alkaloid, and some minor constituents such as aliphatic hydrocarbons, terpenes and phenolics. Molecular docking of carpaine revealed that this molecule formed hydrogen bond and hydrophobic interactions with choline binding site and acyl pocket. This study provides some preliminary findings on the potential use of C. papaya leaf as an herbal supplement for the prevention and treatment of Alzheimer’s disease.
ABSTRACT
Objective: To determine the anti-breast cancer activities and the safety oral consumption of Dillenia suffruticosa root aqueous extract (DRAE) in BALB/c mice. Methods: In the anti-breast cancer study, female BALB/c mice were divided into five groups (n = 12), which were (1) positive control (with breast cancer, untreated), (2) negative control (without breast cancer, untreated) and other three groups of mice with breast cancer treated with 1000, 500 and 250 mg/kg of DRAE, respectively, by oral gavage for 28 days. All mice except from the negative control group were injected into the mammary fat pad with 4T1 cells (1 × 10