Plants from the Nepeta genus have been proved to possess different pharmacological properties, among which are antimicrobial, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, analgesic, and cytotoxic effects. Nepeta italica is a medicinal plant traditionally used for its analgesic effects, and in the present study, the phytochemical composition and biological effects of hexane, dichloromethane (DCM), ethyl acetate (EA), ethanol, ethanol-water, and water extracts of the aerial parts were investigated for determining phenolic composition, antioxidant effects, and anti-inflammatory effects in isolated mouse colon specimens exposed to lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Polar extracts were the richest in terms of phenolic compounds, especially rosmarinic acid. In parallel, ethanol, ethanol-water, and water extracts were also the most effective as scavenging/reducing and enzyme inhibition agents, especially towards cholinesterases and α-glucosidase, and in inhibiting the LPS-induced cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) and tumor necrosis factor α (TNFα) gene expression in mouse colon. This poses the basis for future in vivo investigations for confirming the protective effects of polar extracts of N. italica against inflammatory bowel diseases.
Keywords: Nepeta italica; anti-inflammatory; antioxidant; rosmarinic acid.