In vitro thrombolytic and cytotoxic evaluation of Mentha arvensis L., Mentha spicata L. and Mentha viridis L.

Atherothrombotic diseases or coronary artery thrombosis are common disorders which are treated by streptokinase (SK), urokinase (UK) or tissue plasminogen activators (t-PA). Because of the high risk of bleeding, severe anaphylactic shock, intracranial hemorrhage and lacks of specificity of these drugs, they are restricted to those patients whohave undergone surgery or those with a history of gastrointestinal bleeding or hypertension. Therefore, plant based drugs are used because they are cheap, safe, low side effects and effective against many diseases.The study was carried out to check the clot lysis effect and cytotoxic effects ofMenthaarvensis L., Menthaspicata L. and MenthaviridisL.using streptokinase as a positive control and water as a negative control. In this experiment, the M. arvensis, M.spicata and M. viridisshowed 32.56%, 30.89%, 30.29% clot lysis activity in case of methanol extract, 32.04%, 30.37%, 30.02% clot lysis activity in case of ethanol extract, 31.87%, 29.77%, 29.05%clot lysis activity in case of chloroform extract and 30.29%, 28.45%, 27.55% clot lysis activity in case of acetone extract respectively. In brine shrimp cytotoxic assay the methanol extractsM. arvensis, M. spicata and M. viridis showed LC50 values of 2.088, 1.964 and 1.812 μg/ml, respectively, which was referred to Vincristine sulfate (LC501.160).From this study, it can be said that the M. arvensis, M.spicata and M.viridis has clot lysis activity and low cytotoxic activity. So, these plantscould be incorporated as a thrombolytic agent with In vivo effects to improve the atherothrombotic patients. Keywords:Thrombolysis, Cytotoxicity,Menthaarvensis L., MenthaspicataL.,Menthaviridis L., Streptokinase.