Investigation of the anticholinesterase, antidiabetic, antioxidant and antibacterial activities of stachys megalodonta subsp. megalodonta plant

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a major problem especially for developed countries with a high elderly population. Acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and Butyrylcholinesterase (BChE) inhibitors are promising compounds for the treatment of the disease. In this study, the effects of Stachys megalodonta Hausskn. & Bornm. ex P.H.Davis subsp. megalodonta (SM) plant's distilled water and ethanol (EtOH) extracts belonging to the Lamiaceae family on AChE and BChE enzymes were investigated. The effect of the extracts on commercially available α-amylase and α glucosidase enzymes were studied. The antioxidant activity of the plant was studied by DPPH, ABTS, FRAP methods. In addition, its antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC 25923), E.coli (ATCC 11303), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (ATCC-9027) and Enterobacter aerogenes (ATCC-13048) bacteria was determined by disk diffusion method and minium inhibition concentration method. In the results of the study; ıt has been determined that the SM plant has an inhibitory effect on AChE and BChE. It was noted that the ethanol extract of the plant strongly inhibited AChE and BChE enzymes with IC50 values of 0.032±0.002 and 0.042±0.008, respectively. The ethanol extract of the plant has been shown to inhibit α-amylase and α-glucosidase enzymes with IC50 values of 2.119±0.005 and 3.891±0.009, respectively. In DPPH and ABTS experiments, relatively strong antioxidant activities were recorded with IC50 values of 1.501±0.12 and 1.011±0.09, respectively, of the ethanol extract. It was observed that the ethanol extract of the plant showed an antibacterial effect against the bacteria studied, while the water extract did not show any effect against the E.coli bacteria.