Bioactivities of centaurium erythraea (Gentianaceae) decoctions: antioxidant activity, enzyme inhibition and docking studies

• Autor(a) principal: Guedes, Laura
• Data de Publicação: 2019
• Outros Autores: Reis, Pedro B. P. S., Machuqueiro, Miguel, RESSAISSI, Asma, Pacheco, Rita, Serralheiro, Maria Luisa
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/10400.21/11320
• topic: Centaurium erythraea; Acetylcholinesterase; HMG-CoA reductase; Gentiopicroside; Xanthones; Docking studies

Centaurium erythraea is recommended for the treatment of gastrointestinal disorders and to reduce hypercholesterolemia in ethno-medicinal practice. To perform a top-down study that could give some insight into the molecular basis of these bioactivities, decoctions from C. erythraea leaves were prepared and the compounds were identified by liquid chromatography-high resolution tandemmassspectrometry(LC–MS/MS).Secoiridoidsglycosides,likegentiopicrosideandsweroside, and several xanthones, such as di-hydroxy-dimethoxyxanthone, were identified. Following some of the bioactivities previously ascribed to C. erythraea, we have studied its antioxidant capacity and the ability to inhibit acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase (HMGR). Significant antioxidant activities were observed, following three assays: free radical 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) reduction; lipoperoxidation; and NO radical scavengingcapacity. TheAChEandHMGRinhibitoryactivitiesforthedecoctionwerealsomeasured (56% at 500 µg/mL and 48% at 10 µg/mL, respectively). Molecular docking studies indicated that xanthones are better AChE inhibitors than gentiopicroside, while this compound exhibits a better shape complementarity with the HMGR active site than xanthones. To the extent of our knowledge, thisisthefirstreportonAChEandHMGRactivitiesbyC.erythraeadecoctions,inatop-downanalysis, complemented with in silico molecular docking, which aims to understand, at the molecular level, some of the biological effects ascribed to infusions from this plant.