Acetylcholinesterase inhibitors from the toadstool Cortinarius infractus.

Inhibition of acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and therefore prevention of acetylcholine degradation is one of the most accepted therapy opportunities for Alzheimer s disease (AD), today. Due to lack of selectivity of AChE inhibitor drugs on the market, AD-patients suffer from side effects like nausea or vomiting. In the present study the isolation of two alkaloids, infractopicrin (1) and 10-hydroxy-infractopicrin (2), from Cortinarius infractus Berk. (Cortinariaceae) is presented. Both compounds show AChE-inhibiting activity and possess a higher selectivity than galanthamine. Docking studies show that lacking pi-pi-interactions in butyrylcholinesterase (BChE) are responsible for selectivity. Studies on other AD pathology related targets show an inhibitory effect of both compounds on self-aggregation of Abeta-peptides but not on AChE induced Abeta-peptide aggregation. Low cytotoxicity as well as calculated pharmacokinetic data suggest that the natural products could be useful candidates for further drug development. Copyright 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.