The essential oils (EOs) of three Caprifoliaceae species, the Eurasiatic Valeriana officinalis (Vo), the Himalayan Valeriana jatamansi (Vj) and Nardostachys jatamansi (Nj), are traditionally used to treat neurological disorders. Roots/rhizomes micromorphology, DNA barcoding and EOs phytochemical characterization were carried out, while biological effects on the nervous system were assessed by acetylcholinesterase (AChE) inhibitory activity and microelectrode arrays (MEA). Nj showed the highest inhibitory activity on AChE (IC₅₀ 67.15 μg/mL) followed by Vo (IC₅₀ 127.30 μg/mL) and Vj (IC₅₀ 246.84 μg/mL). MEA analyses on rat cortical neurons, carried out by recording mean firing rate (MFR) and mean bursting rate (MBR), revealed stronger inhibition by Nj (IC₅₀ 18.8 and 11.1 μg/mL) and Vo (16.5 and 22.5 μg/mL), compared with Vj (68.5 and 89.3 μg/mL). These results could be related to different EO compositions, since sesquiterpenes and monoterpenes significantly contribute to the observed effects, but the presence of oxygenated compounds such as aldehydes and ketones is a discriminating factor in determining the order of potency. Our multidisciplinary approach represents an important tool to avoid the adulteration of herbal drugs and permits the evaluation of the effectiveness of EOs that could be used for a wide range of therapeutic applications.

中文翻译：

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传统用作抗抑郁药的三种物种的比较和功能筛选：缬草，缬草。和Nardostachys jatamansi（D.Don）DC。

传统上，三种菊科植物的精油（EOs）用于治疗神经系统疾病，它们分别是欧亚大陆缬草（Vo），喜马拉雅缬草（Vj）和Nardostachys jatamansi（Nj）。进行了根/根茎微形态学，DNA条形码和EOs植物化学表征，同时通过乙酰胆碱酯酶（AChE）抑制活性和微电极阵列（MEA）评估了对神经系统的生物学作用。NJ显示对乙酰胆碱酯酶的最高抑制活性（IC ₅₀ 67.15微克/毫升），然后加入VO（IC ₅₀ 127.30微克/毫升）和VJ（IC ₅₀246.84μg/ mL）。通过记录平均放电速率（MFR）和平均爆裂速率（MBR）对大鼠皮层神经元进行MEA分析，发现Nj（IC ₅₀ 18.8和11.1μg/ mL）和Vo（16.5和22.5μg/ mL）具有更强的抑制作用与Vj（68.5和89.3μg/ mL）相比。这些结果可能与不同的EO组成有关，因为倍半萜和单萜显着促进了所观察到的效果，但是含氧化合物（如醛和酮）的存在是确定效价顺序的决定性因素。我们的多学科方法是避免草药掺假的重要工具，并且可以评估可用于多种治疗应用的EO的有效性。