Modern medicine has advanced so far that for many it seems like a world of science fiction; chemicals with difficult to pronounce names and complex relationships between substances make the medical world seem like one all unto itself. Ultimately, however, medicine is merely an attempt to understand how the body works and how it is affected, both positively and negatively, by the substances with which it comes into contact. In many ways, it is simply an advanced way to study nature. It should come as no surprise, then, that much of what is used in modern medicine comes from natural sources, such as plants, animals, and bacteria. These "natural" remedies have a long traditional history throughout the world, especially in Eastern countries such as China and Japan. For example, Huperzia serrata, known as Chinese club moss, has been used in Chinese folk medicine for hundreds of years and recent research is helping to shed light on why it is considered to be such an effective natural medicine. Huperzia contains a compound known as huperzine A, which has been demonstrated to protect against memory loss and other symptoms of neurodegeneration. However, no research has been done to see what effect huperzine A could have on the most serious of neural disorders: Alzheimer's disease (AD).

Since AD has been linked to increased activity of enzymes acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and butyrylcholinesterase (BuChE), understanding how huperzine A interacts with these substances is essential in determining whether or not a traditional medicine -Japanese-native Huperzia serrata- can be an effective treatment for AD. This was the focus of the study conducted by Ohba et al. from Gifu Pharmaceutical University in Japan. By administering Huperzia serrata to mice and measuring the effects it had on AChE and BuChE activity, researchers were able to test the effect of the drug on mitigating the symptoms of AD. To do this, the team needed a reliable way to measure AChE levels. For this, they used the Amplite® Colorimetric Acetylcholinesterase Assay Kit, which uses DTNB to quantify the thiolcholine produced from the hydrolysis of acetylthiolcholine by AChE. The results obtained from this kit are clear and vivid, which allows for accurate readings and more reliable results. Since an increased activity of this enzyme is so closely linked to the onset of AD, being able to accurately measure how it is affected by other compounds is essential for conducting a valid study.

What Ohba and his team found was that Huperzia serrata did show an inhibiting effect on AChE, though not on BuChE. Nevertheless, this is promising as it indicates Huperzia serrata extract could in fact be an effective treatment for AD. Arriving at these results would not have been possible had it not been for the ability to accurately read and closely monitor AChE activity. The Amplite® Colorimetric Acetylcholinesterase Assay Kit gives researchers this ability and makes conclusions like the one drawn from this study more reliable and robust, which allows for further advancement towards effective treatments for disorders such as AD.