In Vitro and In Silico Investigation of Diterpenoid Alkaloids Isolated from Delphinium chitralense .

This study reports the isolation of three new C 20 diterpenoid alkaloids, Chitralinine A-C ( 1 - 3 ) from the aerial parts of Delphinium chitralense . Their structures were established on the basis of latest spectral techniques and single crystal X-rays crystallographic studies of chitralinine A described basic skeleton of these compounds. All the isolated Compounds ( 1 - 3 ) showed strong, competitive type inhibition against acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and butyrylcholinesterase (BChE) in comparison to standard allanzanthane and galanthamine however, chitralinine-C remained the most potent with IC 50 value of 11.64 ± 0.08 μM against AChE, and 24.31 ± 0.33 μM against BChE, respectively. The molecular docking reflected a binding free energy of -16.400 K Cal-mol -1 for chitralinine-C, having strong interactions with active site residues, TYR334, ASP72, SER122, and SER200. The overall findings suggest that these new diterpenoid alkaloids could serve as lead drugs against dementia-related diseases including Alzheimer's disease.