Anticandidal and anti-carcinogenic activities of Mentha longifolia (Wild Mint) extracts in vitro

Abstract

Vulvovaginal candidiasis is a common health problem affecting about 75% of women at reproductive age. Teratogenicity and fetal toxicity resulting from antifungal therapy during pregnancy necessitates formulation of novel therapeutic agents. Disk diffusion method was performed to evaluate the antifungal activity of Mentha longifolia extracts against different candidal strains. Moreover, the anticancer activity of different M. longifolia extracts against MCF7 breast cancer cell line was evaluated by MTT assay. The M. longifolia n-hexane extract exhibited the highest antifungal activity, while the methanolic extract showed no antimicrobial activity against the tested Candida strains. Minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of n-hexane extract was 250 µg/disk against C. tropicalis while it was 500 µg/disk against C. albicans and C. glabrata. Minimum fungicidal concentration (MFC) was 0.5 mg/disk against C. albicans and C. tropicalis, and 1 mg/disk against C. glabrata. GC–MS analysis of the n-hexane extract was performed to detect the active phytochemical components. Menthone (18.37%) was the main phytochemical active component of n-hexane extract followed by butyloctanol (16.13%), 1,5-(1-Bromo-1-methylethyl)-2-methyl-2-cyclohexen-1-one (14.89%), α-tocopherol (13.13%), eugenol (12.21%), α-resorcylamide (11.56%), citronellal (3.71%), butylated hydroxytoluene (3.21%), isocaryophyllene (2.81%), 2-hexyldecanol (2.12%) and tau-cadinol (1.87%). The methanolic extract exhibited the highest anticancer activity against MCF7 breast cancer cell line while diethyl ether extract exhibited the lowest activity with IC50 of 91.67 and 244.70 µg/ml respectively. M. longifolia extracts could be used as a potential source of novel anticandidal and anti-carcinogenic therapeutic agents.