For centuries, plants have been used in traditional medicines and there has been recent interest in the\r\nchemopreventive properties of compounds derived from plants. In the present study, we investigated the\r\nantibutyrylcholinestrasic (anti-BuChE) and antioxidant (against some free radicals) activities of extracts from Rhus\r\npentaphyllum. Aqueous extracts were prepared from powdered R. pentaphyllum roots, leaves and seeds and\r\ncharacterized for the presence of tannins, flavonoids and coumarins. Seeds aqueous extract contained the highest\r\nquantities of both flavonoids and tannins (21.12% and 17.45% respectively). In the same way, seeds extracts\r\ndisplayed remarkable inhibition against BuChE over 95%, at 100 �µg/ml and with IC50 0.74 �µg/ml. In addition,\r\ncompared to leaves and roots extracts, seeds aqueous extract revealed relatively strong antiradical activity towards\r\nthe ABTS. (IC50 = 0.25 �µg/ml) and DPPH (IC50 = 2.71 �µg/ml) free radicals and decreased significantly the reactive\r\noxygen species such O2\r\n.- (IC50 = 2.9 �µg/ml) formation evaluated by the non-enzymatic generating O2\r\n.- system\r\n(Nitroblue tetrazolium/riboflavine). These data suggest that the anti-BuChE activities mechanism of these extracts\r\noccurs through a free radical scavenging capacities.\r\nThe present study indicates that extracts of Rhus pentaphyllum leaves, seeds and roots are a significant source of\r\ncompounds, such as tannins, flavonoids and coumarins, with anti-BuChE and antioxidant activities, and thus may\r\nbe useful for chemoprevention.
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