Arecoline is a natural alkaloid derived from areca nut in the palm family and is a potent nicotine and partial agonist of muscarinic acetylcholine receptors. Arecoline has anti-anxiety and anti-parasitic activity, can induce oxidative stress and can be used to study Alzheimer's disease and Alzheimer's disease.

Arecoline induces reactive oxygen species generation and cell cycle arrest at the G1/G0 phase in HaCaT cells without affecting p21/Cip1 expression. It also upregulates stress-responsive genes such as hemeoxygenase-1, ferritin light chain, glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase, glutamate-cysteine ligase catalytic subunit, and glutathione reductase. At higher concentrations, arecoline causes epithelial cell death due to oxidative trauma without triggering apoptosis[1].