Evaluation of In Vitro and In Silico Anti-Alzheimer Potential of Nonpolar Extracts and Essential Oil from <i>Mentha piperita</i>
Manel Srief,
Moustafa Bani,
El Hassen Mokrani,
Imad Mennai,
Mehdi Hamdi,
Abdenour Boumechhour,
Mohamed Abou Mustapha,
Mouna Derdour,
Messouad Kerkatou,
Mohamed El-Shazly,
Chawki Bensouici,
Gema Nieto,
Salah Akkal
Affiliations
Manel Srief
Biotechnology Laboratory, National Higher School of Biotechnology, Constantine 25000, Algeria
Moustafa Bani
Biotechnology Laboratory, National Higher School of Biotechnology, Constantine 25000, Algeria
El Hassen Mokrani
Laboratory of Applied Biochemistry, Department of Biochemistry and Cellular and Molecular Biology, Faculty of Natural and Life Sciences, University Mentouri Brothers Constantine 1, Constantine 25017, Algeria
Imad Mennai
Research Unit Valorisation of Natural Resources, Bioactive Molecules and Physicochemical and Biological Analysis, University Mentouri Brothers Constantine 1, Route d’Ain El Bey, Constantine 25000, Algeria
Mehdi Hamdi
Biotechnology Research Center, Ali Mendjli New City UV 03, BP E73, Constantine 25016, Algeria
Abdenour Boumechhour
Centre for Scientific and Technical Research in AnalysisPhysico-Chemicals (C.R.A.P.C), BP384, Bou-Ismail, Tipaza, Algiers 42004, Algeria
Mohamed Abou Mustapha
Centre for Scientific and Technical Research in AnalysisPhysico-Chemicals (C.R.A.P.C), BP384, Bou-Ismail, Tipaza, Algiers 42004, Algeria
Mouna Derdour
Biotechnology Research Center, Ali Mendjli New City UV 03, BP E73, Constantine 25016, Algeria
Messouad Kerkatou
Research Unit Valorisation of Natural Resources, Bioactive Molecules and Physicochemical and Biological Analysis, University Mentouri Brothers Constantine 1, Route d’Ain El Bey, Constantine 25000, Algeria
Mohamed El-Shazly
Department of Pharmacognosy, Faculty of Pharmacy, Ain-Shams University, Cairo 11566, Egypt
Chawki Bensouici
Biotechnology Research Center, Ali Mendjli New City UV 03, BP E73, Constantine 25016, Algeria
Gema Nieto
Department of Food Technology, Food Science and Nutrition, Faculty of Veterinary Sciences, Regional Campus of International Excellence “Campus Mare Nostrum”, University of Murcia, 30071 Murcia, Spain
Salah Akkal
Unit of Recherche Valorisation of Natural Resources, Bioactive Molecules and Analyses Physicochemical and Biological (VARENBIOMOL), Faculty of Science, Department of Chemistry, University Mentouri-Constantine 1, Constantine 25000, Algeria
The anticholinesterase and antioxidant activities with chemical composition and molecular docking of essential oil and nonpolar extracts of Mentha piperita were evaluated using enzymatic and chemical methods. Molecular docking tools were used to explain the interaction of the major chemical constituents with the enzymes. GC/MS analyses revealed that the main compounds in M. piperita essential oil were l-menthone (43.601%) followed by pulegone (21.610%), linolenic acid (25.628%), and l-menthone (10.957%), representing the major compounds of the petroleum ether extract. Imidazoquinoline (7.767%) and 17-N-acetyl-oroidine (5.363%) were the major constituents of the chloroform extract. Linolenic acid (19.397%) and l-menthone (6.336%) were the most abundant compounds in the hexane extract. The M. piperita essential oil and nonpolar extracts showed moderate antioxidant activity. The essential oil showed the most promising anticholinesterase activity with IC50 = 10.66 ± 0.12 µg/mL and IC50 = 16.33 ± 0.03 µg/mL against acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and butyrylcholinesterase (BChE), respectively, close to galantamine in AChE and more active in BChE, followed by the interesting activity in the petroleum ether extract with IC50 = 23.42 ± 3.06 µg/mL in AChE and IC50 = 62.00 ± 3.22 µg/mL in BChE. The docking experiments showed that among the seven major identified compounds, N-acetyl-17-oroidine showed the highest binding score (63.01 in AChE and 63.68 in BChE). This compound was found to bind the catalytic and peripheral sites, resulting in more potent inhibitory activity than galantamine, which only binds to the catalytic site. These findings suggested the possible use of M. piperita essential oil and nonpolar extracts as a potential source of alternative natural anti-Alzheimer compounds.
