Preliminary Study of the Antimicrobial, Anticoagulant, Antioxidant, Cytotoxic, and Anti-Inflammatory Activity of Five Selected Plants with Therapeutic Application in Dentistry

Abstract

The usefulness of traditional plants in Mexico to treat human ailments has been known since ancient times. This work evaluated the antimicrobial, anticoagulant, antioxidant, cytotoxic, and anti-inflammatory potential of ethanolic extracts of <i>Aloe vera</i>, <i>Equisetum arvense</i>, <i>Mimosa tenuiflora</i>, <i>Lippia graveolens</i>, and <i>Syzygium aromaticum</i>. The antimicrobial activity of the extracts was evaluated against <i>Streptococcus mutans</i> and <i>Streptococcus sorbinus</i>; a significant inhibitory effect of the <i>L. graveolens</i> extract on both bacteria was observed at concentration levels of 250 µg/mL and greater. The anticoagulant activity was evaluated in terms of prothrombin time (PT) and activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT), <i>A. vera</i> and <i>M. tenuiflora</i> extracts showed no significant difference (<i>p</i> ˂ 0.05) in PT compared with the control, and for APTT the extracts of <i>A. vera</i>, <i>L. graveolens</i>, and <i>S. aromaticum</i> decreased the APTT significantly (<i>p</i> ˂ 0.05) compared with the control. The antioxidant potential by DPPH assay indicated that the <i>E. arvense</i> extract behaved statistically the same as the control. The cytotoxic activity was evaluated in HGF-1 cells using the fluorometric microculture cytotoxicity assay technique, and none of the extracts was toxic at 125 and 250 µg/mL concentrations. Finally, the anti-inflammatory activity was evaluated using ELISA, where the <i>A. vera</i> extract showed the best anti-inflammatory capacity. Further research on the search for bioactive metabolites and elucidation of action mechanisms of the most promising extracts will be carried out.