Antioxidant, antimicrobial, cytotoxic and analgesic activities of ethanolic extract of Mentha arvensis L.

ABSTRACTObjectiveTo investigate potential antioxidant, antimicrobial, cytotoxic and analgesic activities of ethanolic extract of Mentha arvensis L. in different in vivo and in vitro experimental models.MethodsIn vitro DPPH radical scavenging assay was used to evaluate the antioxidant activity of the plant extract. In vivo analgesic activity was carried out by acetic acid-induced writhing test in Swiss albino mice. All studies in mice were undertaken at the doses of 250 and 500 mg/kg body weight. Antibacterial activity was studied by disk diffusion assay against some Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacterial strains. Brine shrimp lethality assay was used to investigate cytotoxicity effects of the plant extract.ResultsThe extract showed free radical scavenging activity in the DPPH assay (IC50∼41 μg/mL) compared to the standard antioxidant ascorbic acid (IC50∼19 μg/mL). The extract also produced prominent antimicrobial activity against Salmonella typhi, Salmonella paratyphi, Shigella boydii, Streptococcus pyogenes and Streptococcus aureus compared to standard drug kanamycin at the dose of 30 μg/disc. The extract exhibited lethality against the brine shrimp nauplii with the LC50 values of 40 μg/mL, and also 90% mortality (LC90) value was found to be 160 μg/mL. In analgesic test, the extract demonstrated statistically significant (P<0.01) analgesic effect in acetic acid induced writhing in white albino mice at both dose levels.ConclusionsThese results suggest that the ethanolic extract of Mentha arvensis L. has potential antioxidant, antibacterial, cytotoxic and analgesic activities that support the ethnopharmacological uses of this plant.