Isolation of acetylcholinesterase inhibitory alkaloids from Nerine bowdenii

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is associated with a steady loss of attention and memory, which has been correlated with the impairment of brain cholinergic neurotransmission, particularly a deficit of cholinergic neurons in the nucleus basalis of Meynert. Therefore, one of the methods that has proven successful in the treatment of AD is the use of inhibitors of acetylcholinesterase (AchE) to supplement the acetylcholine level. Herein we describe the isolation of several AchE-inhibiting alkaloids from the bulbs of Nerine bowdenii, an Amaryllidaceae species. For the first time 11-O-acetylambelline and filofiline, previously reported from Brunsvigia josephinea and Nerine filifolia, respectively, were isolated.