In vitro Cholinesterase Inhibitory Activities of Piper betle Stem and their Correlation with In silico Docking Studies of its Phytoconstituents

Background: Worldwide, millions of people are affected by neurodegenerative diseases. Even though treatment may help to reduce some of the mental or physical symptoms connected with neurodegenerative diseases, there is at present no way to slow disease development and no recognized cure. Objective: The current study was carried out to explore the cholinesterase (ChE) inhibitory properties of the stem of Piper betle and correlate them with in silico docking results of its phytoconstituents. Methods: The dried Piper betle stem was used to be extracted with purified water by using the maceration technique. The resultant was assessed for ChE inhibitory activity using Ellman’s method. The inhibitory profile of the aqueous extract of Piper betle (AEPB) stem was compared with rivastigmine, which is a standard cholinesterase inhibitor. The phytoconstituents of AEPB were procured from various literature studies. In silico docking studies were carried out with the help of AutoDock 4.2 software. Results: AEPB considerably inhibited AChE and BuChE with the inhibition constant values of 0.437 ± 0.62 μg/ml and 0.371 ± 0.62 μg/ml, respectively, in a dose-dependent manner. In computational evaluation, the selected phytoconstituents exhibited excellent binding interactions prevailing with cholinesterase targets than the standard rivastigmine. Conclusion: Based on the in vitro and in silico evaluations, Piperol A showed notable concentrationdependent inhibition of AChE and BuChE. These in vitro analyses and molecular docking studies will be helpful for the development of potent ChE inhibitors for the management of Alzheimer’s disease.