Original Research Indian Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmacology, October-December 2015;2(4);203-205 203 Evaluation of Antioxidant and Anticholinesterase Potential of Bark Extracts of Alstonia Scholaris Sankhadeep Bhowmik 1 , Santhilna K.S. 2 , Praveen TK 3,* 1 Assistant Professor, 2 Lecturer, 3 M Pharma, Department of Pharmacology, JSS College of Pharmacy, Udhagamandalam *Corresponding Author: Email: praveentk@sscpooty.org ABSTRACT The present study was carried out to investigate the in-vitro antioxidant and anticholinesterase potential of the bark extracts of Alstonia scholaris. The ethylacetate and methanolic extracts of the bark was prepared by successive soxhlet extraction method. The in-vitro antioxidant and anticholinesterase activity were assessed by DPPH assay and rat brain cholinesterase assay. The results of the study show that the ethyl acetate and methanolic extracts possess significant antioxidant and cholinesterase inhibitory activity. Keywords: Alstonia scholaris, Alzheimer’s, antioxidant, anticholinesterase, ethyl acetate extract Access this article online Quick Response Code: Website: www.innovativepublication.com DOI: 10.5958/2393-9087.2015.00004.7 INTRODUCTION Alzheimer’s is the fourth leading causes of death and the risk factor increases with age. It is not just considered as the disease of older persons, having age above 65; even the onset occurs during the age between 40-50 and the survival rate varies, it even depends on the other health conditions. 1 It is a progressive neurological disorder, in which there is an accumulation of amyloid plaques and disorientation of microtubules, leading to memory loss, unusual behaviour and even cognitive decline. The oxidative stress, inflammation and decreased acetylcholine are reported to be the major causative factors. 2 Alzheimer’s disease involves the damaging of the acetylcholine producing cells in the basal forebrain thereby reducing the synthesis of acetylcholine. Targeting cholinesterase is one of the strategy to increase ACh levels and delay the progression of the disease. 2,3 Oxidative damage was considered as one of the important mechanism involved in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer’s disease, which results in the chemical modification of the biological molecules leading to neuronal death. 4 It has been reported that plants having Vitamins (C, E, carotenoids, etc.), flavonoids (flavones, isoflavones, flavonones, anthocyanins and catechins), polyphenols (ellagic acid, gallic acid and tannins) possess remarkable antioxidant activities. 5,6,7 Alstonia scholaris belongs to the family Apocynaceae has been reported for having various pharmacological activities, has been used in ayurvedic treatment of various disorders including neurological disorders. It has been reported to possess antimicrobial, antiamoebic, antidiarrheal, antiplasmodial, hepatoprotective, immunomodulatory, anticancer, antiasthmatic, analgesic, anti-inflammatory, antidiarrhoeal, antifertility and wound healing activities. Alkaloids, coumarins, flavonoids, leucoanthocyanines, reducing sugar, simple phenolics, steroids, saponins, tanins were reported as the chief chemical constituents of the plant. 8,9 In the present study an effort has been made to investigate the possible benefits of bark extracts of Alstonia scholaris in the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease by evaluating its in-vitro antioxidant and anticholinesterase activity. MATERIALS AND METHODS Chemicals: Petroleum ether, chloroform, ethyl acetate, methanol (SD fine, Chennai) DPPH (1,1-Diphenly-2- picryl-hydrazil)(Himedia, Mumbai), Vitamin C (Himedia lab., Mumbai), neostigmine (NEON Lab.lmt.,Mumbai), acetylthiocholine iodide (Sigma Aldrich, Bangalore). All other chemicals used in the study are of analytical grade. Materials: The bark of Alstonia scholaris was collected from Calicut, Kerala and it was authenticated by Dr. Sreenath, Department of Botany, Bangalore University. The bark was dried in shade and was used for the study. Preparation of extracts: The dried bark was made in to powder using a mixer. About 100 g of the powdered material was successively extracted by soxhlet apparatus using 500 ml of the solvents namely petroleum ether, chloroform, ethyl acetate and methanol. The extracts obtained were filtered through What man filter paper and the solvents were evaporated by placing in oven at 40 0 C. The percentage yield of the