Evaluation of sideritis congesta in vitro and in silico for protective effects against inflammation and anti-mutagenic activity

The number of studies on the species of the genus Sideritis has increased significantly over the past 20 years. Sideritis, commonly known as "mountain tea" are widely used by traditional medicine for anti-inflammatory, anti-ulcer, antioxidant and anti-microbial activities. Previous studies have indicated that Sideritis has many medicinal applications. However, Sideritis congesta, especially for the endemic ones found in Turkey remains limited and not discovered, although local people extensively use this plant in our country. This paper is the first study in which protective effects of Sideritis congesta against inflammation is investigated by in vitro method, nitrite assay. Secondly, this paper is also the first study in which mutagenic and antimutagenic activity of Sideritis congesta has been investigated by Ames test. Moreover, our findings in here supported by in silico analysis in aspect of the same endpoints conducted in vitro assays. According to our results, Sideritis congesta exhibited protective effects against inflammation in LPS stimulated RAW264.7 murine macrophage cells by inhibiting NO production. Additionally, Sideritis congesta extracts showed anti-mutagenic activity at 1000 and 5000 µl/plate in TA98 and TA100 Salmonella typhimurium with S9 activation. In silico analysis revealed that some of the active compounds found in Sideritis congesta are potentially mutagenic, but none of the in vitro analysis in our study showed mutagenicity. As a conclusion, a proper formulation containing Sideritis congesta extract might be a potential anti-inflammatory and anti-mutagenic agent.