Abstract

In this study we evaluate the chemical composition and neuroprotective effects of alkaloid fractions of the Amaryllidaceae species Rhodophiala pratensis, Rhodolirium speciostun, Phycella australis and Phaedranassa lehmannii. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC/MS) enable the identification of 41 known alkaloids. Rhodolirium speciosurn and Rhodophiala pratensis were the most active extracts against acetylcholinesterase (AChE), with IC50 values of 35.22 and 38.13 mu g/mL, respectively. The protective effect of these extracts on human neuroblastoma cells (SH-SY5Y) subjected to mitochondrial oxidative stress with rotenone/oligomycin A (R/O) and toxicity promoted by okadaic acid (OA) was evaluated. Only Phycella australis and Rhodophiala pratensis at 0.75 and 1.5 mu g/mL, tend to reverse the cell death induced by R/O by around 12%. In OA assay, alkaloid fractions of Phycella Australis and Phaedranassa lehmannii displayed a concentration-dependent (0.375-3.0 mu g/mL) effect with a maximum neuroprotective response of 78% and 84%, respectively. Afterwards, neuroprotective effects of Phycella australis (3 and 6 mu g/mL) in mouse hippocampal slices stressed with oxygen glucose deprivation/reoxygenation (OGD/R), shown a protection greater than 14%. Finally, Phycella Australis (6 mu g/mL) reverted the cell viability from 65% to 90% in slices treated with OA, representing a protection of 25% attributable to the alkaloids of this species.