Investigation of the effect of a sedative drug, Donepezil, on the activity of peroxidase

Oxidative stress, induced by free radicals, has been implicated in the pathogenesis of many serious systemic diseases such as diabetes, cancer and neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease. Peroxidase, as an antioxidant enzyme, may be induced under conditions of oxidative stress. Peroxidasesbelong to the class of oxidoreductase enzyme that catalyzes organic and non-organic substrates oxidation reaction. Due to the high catalytic power and the critical role of this enzyme to eliminate free radicals it is widely used as a model enzyme in the medical research. This study aims to examine whether a sedative drug for Alzheimer’s disease, donepezil, could affect the activity of peroxidase. Peroxidase activity was measured in a time course mode by monitoring the absorbance changes at 510 nm, using the reaction mixture containing aminoantipyrine/phenol/H2O2 and the enzyme. The effect of different concentration of donepezil was evaluated on the enzyme activity. The results showed that the drug possesses a negligible inhibitory effect (10%) on the enzyme activity. Donepezil as a classical drug for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease does not interfere with the activity of peroxidase, as an important antioxidant enzyme.

Keywords:

Peroxidase , Antioxidant enzyme , Donepezil , Alzheimer’s disease