The purpose of this study is to examine not only antioxidant effect but also inhibitory effects of Acorus gramineus hot water extracts (AGW) on angiotension converting enzyme and acetylcholine esterase derived from rabbit lung and PC12 cells, respectively. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) have been known to play an important role in depression of neurotransmission, Alzheimer disease, Parkinsonism and ischemic strocke. Therefore, scavensing activity of AGW on ROS and inhibitory effect on activity of angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) and acetylcholinesterase (AChE) were evaluated in vitro. First of all, MTT assay was carried out in PC12. It showed no toxicity in PC12 cells less than 0.1%. In addition, it was observed that AGW exhibited an excellent reducing power over 0.1% and showed a protective effect on DNA oxidation. Moreover, it was observed that the level of expression of Nrf2 was increased but the level of expression of NOS was inhibited in PC12 cells. Our data indicate that AGW exhibit scavenging effect on ROS-induced oxidative damage by inhibition of expression of Nrf2. Furthermore, it was observed that AGW exerted inhibitory effects on activities of ACE. These results suggest that AGW could have a potential possibility as a therapeutic agent to improve brain recognition ability related to oxidative stress and promote blood circulation. (Cancer Prev Res 18, 96-105, 2013)

Keywords: Acorus gramineus, Acetylcholinesterase, Angiotensin converting enzyme, Nrf2, NOS-2