Terreulactones, A, B, C, and D:: Novel acetyleholinesterase inhibitors produced by Aspergillus terreus: I.: Taxonomy, fermentation, isolation and biological activities

In the course of screening for selective inhibitors of acetylcholinesterase front the microbial metabolites, four new meroterpenoid compounds, terreulactones A, B, C and D were, isolated from solid state fermentation of Aspergillus terreus Fb000501. They showed potent inhibitory activities against acetylcholinesterase with IC50 values in range of 0.06similar to0.42 muM. In addition, they exhibited more than 500similar to3000 times selectivity for acetylcholinesterase compared with butyrylcholinesterase.