Document Type : Original Article

Authors

• Mitra Mehrabani ¹
• Soheila Mahdavi Yekta ¹
• Seyed Noureddin Nematollahi-Mahani ²
• Mehrnaz Mehrabani ²
• Arian Amirkhosravi ²
• Mandana Jafari ¹
• Hamed Javdani ³
• Mehrzad Mehrbani ⁴

¹ Herbal and Traditional Medicines Research Center, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran

² Physiology Research Center, Institute of Neuropharmacology, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran

³ Hormozgan university of medical sciences, Faculty of medicine, Bandar Abbas, Iran

⁴ Neuroscience Research Center, Institute of Neuropharmacology, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran

Abstract

Background: Crataegus meyeri A. Pojark is one of the most known medicinal plants in Iran. This study aimed to assess the cytotoxic, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties of the methanolic extract of Crataegus meyeri (MCM) leaves.
Methods: MCM was prepared from dried leaves. Firstly, the cytotoxic impact of MCM was determined via the MTT test. Then, the anti-inflammatory activity of MCM on the LPS-exposed J774A.1 cells was examined by measuring NO production and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) gene expression using the Griess test and quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR), respectively. MCM antioxidant activity was assessed using the FRAP and DPPH tests.
Results: MCM was shown to be non-cytotoxic against J774A.1 cell at ≤ 125 and ≤ 62 μg/mL concentrations after 24 and 48 h, respectively. It also significantly attenuated the generation of NO in LPS-treated J774A.1 cells at the concentrations of 62 and 125 μg/mL after 24h and 62 μg/mL after 48 h. The extract significantly decreased COX-2 gene expression at concentrations of 62 and 125 μg/mL after 24 h and at the concentration of 15, 31 and 62 μg/mL after 48 h. Moreover, the results indicated that MCM at all concentrations exhibited lower antioxidant activity than vitamin C, but the difference was not significant. Furthermore, MCM could reduce the viability of most of the studied cancer cell lines at concentrations of 250 and 500 μg/mL.
Conclusion: The findings of the current investigation suggest that MCM might exhibit therapeutic potential for treating inflammatory diseases and some types of cancer.

Keywords

• Crataegus meyeri
• murine macrophages J774A.1 cell line
• anti-inflammation
• antioxidant
• cytotoxicity
• anticancer

Main Subjects

• biology