Alzheimer’s disease (AD) the most prevalent neurodegenerative disease and is associated with progressive and irreversible loss of cognitive abilities, memory loss, cognitive impairment, emotional dysfunction, and ultimately death [1]. AD accounts for 50–70% of all cases of dementia, and for which dementia such as AD is a major cause of disability in the elderly [2]. The epidemic scale of dementia poses one of the major challenges on global public health systems and associated financial burden with the social care needed. In 2015, an estimate of the number of people living with dementia was 46.8 million, with an associated economic burden of 818 billion US dollars, with numbers expected to grow year on year [3, 4]. The financial burden, coupled with the social stigma associated with the loss of cognitive abilities and dependency on others, imposes considerable psychological distress in patients as well as their families [5].

The etiopathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease is multifactorial. The recent pieces of evidence have demonstrated that elevated oxidative stress, inflammatory injury, breakdown of acetylcholine by acetylcholinesterase, and deficit in central cholinergic neurotransmission in the brain are interrelated in the onset, and progressive AD [6-8]. Moreover, oxidative stress causes the production of AGEs (advanced glycation end-products), which induce the formation of senile plaques, composed mainly of amyloid-β and neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs) of tau protein, in the hippocampus and cerebral cortex of afflicted humans [2, 9]. These protein aggregates provoke neuronal damage and synaptic dysfunction. The inhibition of the ROS production, and inflammation, and suppression of the acetylcholinesterase activity in the brain is one of the most popular targets for AD treatment to ameliorate cognitive ability. Acetylcholinesterase inhibitor has been recommended as a first-line drug that enhances cholinergic transmission by reducing the enzymatic degradation of acetylcholine is the most important way for reducing the risk of AD [10].

However, the currently four classes of acetylcholinesterase inhibitory drugs: rivastigmine, donepezil, galantamine, and memantine are for the treatment of AD is only symptomatic instead of disease curing and also produce an adverse reaction in the patients. Moreover, these drugs only alleviated cholinergic symptoms and were not designed to address other mechanistic pathways involved in AD disease progression [2, 10]. As oxidative damage causes protein, lipid, and DNA oxidation, and inflammation has been evident to be the primary event in AD, the drugs are needed that can work in the diverse pathways to cope with the ROS, inhibit inflammation and the enhanced acetylcholinesterase activity in the brain [2]. Thus, public and scientific attention has turned toward phytopharmaceuticals as promising candidates for drug development owing to their wide therapeutic potential, superior safety, and targeting orchestration of multiple signaling pathways. Phytomedicines such as Ginkgo (Gingko biloba L.), Curcuma longa L., Melissa officinalis L., and Bacopa monnieri L. have been increasingly used as alternatives to prevent or treat cognitive impairment and AD [10]. 

Cayratia trifolia L. is also known as Amla-lata in Bengali and bush grape or fox grape in English. It is a creeping herb with a soft stem and many branches and has trifoliated leaves. The perennial climber is native to the Indian subcontinent as well as several regions of Asia and Australia. It grows here and there in Bangladesh. Ethno medicinally it is used to increase intelligence and memory [11]. Another plant, Scadoxus multiflorus (Martyn) Raf. is commonly familiar as Blood lily in English and Fireball/May lily/Ball lily in Bengali. It is also used for dementia treatment in ethnomedicine [12]. So far, to date, there is no scientific investigation was carried out to evaluate their phytochemical analysis, anti-oxidant, anti- inflammatory, and anti-acetylcholinesterase activities on cognitive function and AD. Chinese traditional medicine has employed a variety of herbs to treat dementia, and several neuroprotective agents were isolated from herbs for possible applications in developing pharmaceuticals. Therefore, this study aims to determine the phytochemical constituents, anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-acetylcholinesterase activities of two ethnomedicinal plants for the impediment of Alzheimer’s disease.