Terpenic compounds in Chilean species of the genus Blechnum (Pteridophyta: Blechnaceae) with neuroprotective potential

The genus Blechnum L. includes a large variety of species native to central and southern continental Chile: B. arcuatum, B. asperum, B. blechnoides, B. chilense, B. corralense, B hastatum, B. magellanicum, B. microphyllum, B. mochaenum and B. penna-marina containing compounds such as flavonols, hydroxycinnamic acids, lignans, and phytoecdysones. In this examination, terpenic compounds of the phytoecdysone type with pharmacological potential on the central nervous system are detailed. These compounds are characterized by a C27, C28 or C29 structure that possesses a 14-alpha-hydroxy-7-en-6-one chromophore and an A/B-cis (5beta-H) ring fusion that can be extracted from the plant with organic solvents such as hexane, dichloromethane, ethyl acetate, methanol, and ethanol, are concentrated in a reduced pressure rotary evaporator and are identified by gas chromatography coupled to a mass spectrometry detector (GC-MS) or a tandem ionization electrospray network detector UHPLC-DAD-ESI-MS/MS. Phytoecdysones applied in vitro and in vivo models of neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's at concentrations between 100 and 500 µg/ml, can modulate the enzymatic inhibition of monoamine oxidases (MAO-A and MAO-B) and cholinesterases (AChE and BChE) with zero toxicity effects and satisfactory results in cell viability.