Investigation of anti-Alzheimer’s activity of aqueous extract of areca nuts (Areca catechu L.): In vitro and in vivo studies

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is an age-related neurodegenerative disorder. Sever cognitive and memory impairments, huge increase in the prevalence of the disease, and lacking definite cure have absorbed worldwide efforts to develop therapeutic approaches. Since many drugs have failed in the clinical trials due to multifactorial nature of AD, symptomatic treatments are still in the center attention and now, nootropic medicinal plants have been found as versatile ameliorators to reverse memory disorders. In this work, anti-Alzheimer’s activity of aqueous extract of areca nuts (Areca catechu L.) was investigated via in vitro and in vivo studies. It depicted good amyloid β (Aβ) aggregation inhibitory activity, 82% at 100 µg/mL. In addition, it inhibited beta-secretase 1 (BACE1) with IC50 value of 19.03 µg/mL. Evaluation of neuroprotectivity of the aqueous extract of the plant against H2O2-induced cell death in PC12 neurons revealed 84.5% protection at 1 µg/mL. It should be noted that according to our results obtained from Morris Water Maze (MWM) test, the extract reversed scopolamine-induced memory deficit in rats at concentrations of 1.5 and 3 mg/kg.