Veronica persica (Persian speedwell) is a flowering plant local to Eurasia. In this study, several analyses were done to discover the antimicrobial and scolicidal activities and acetyl cholinesterase (AChE), tyrosinase (TYR), lipoxygenase (LOX), and xanthine oxidase (XO) inhibitory activities of V. persica extract.The results presented that B. subtilis was the most susceptible to the extract (MIC = 40.3 μg/mL), while P. aeruginosa was the most resistant strain (MIC = 250.9 μg/mL) among all bacteria evaluated. The extracts demonstrated significant activity versus E. granulosus (P < 0.5) with dose-dependent inhibitions of the protoscolices. The analyzed plant extract exhibited a high AChE and TYR inhibitory activity 55.3% and 52.7% (at the highest utilized dose -3 mg/mL), respectively. The extract also showed high anti-inflammatory activities in analyses tested. Our research proposed that extract of this plant could be promising to the human health, markedly in the infectious, neurodegenerative and inflammatory disorders.

Many of CNS diseases can lead to a great quantity of release of glutamate and the extreme glutamate induces neuronal cell damage and death. Here, we wanted to investigate the effects of Cymbopogon citratus essential oil and Ferula assa-foetida extracts treatment on glutamate-induced cell damage in a primary culture of rat cerebellar granule neurons. Cerebellums were collected from 7-d rat brains and cerebellar granule neurons were obtained after 8-d culture. CGN cells were treated with C. citratus essential oil and F. assa-foetida extracts at concentration of 100 μg/ml before, after, and during exposure to 30 μM glutamate. The cellular viability was evaluated by 3-(4, 5-dimethytthiazol-2-yl)-2, 5-diphenyltetrazoliumbromide (MTT) staining. The flow cytometry assay was used to examine cell cycle and apoptosis. MTT assay showed a glutamate-induced reduction in cellular viability while treatment with C. citratus essential oil and F. assa-foetida extracts before, during, and after exposure to glutamate was increased. Flow cytometric analysis indicated that F. assa-foetida extracts treatment significantly (p < 0.001) attenuated glutamate-induced apoptotic/necrotic cell death and the necrotic rate was decreased by C. citratus essential oil treatment compared to glutamate group, significantly (p < 0.001). The results show that C. citratus essential oil and F. assa-foetida extracts display neuroprotective effects in glutamate-induced neurotoxicity. These extracts exert antiapoptotic activity in cerebellar granule neurons due to cell cycle arrest in G0G1 phase, which explain the beneficial effects of C. citratus essential oil and F. assa-foetida extracts as therapies for neurologic disorders.

Veronica genus (Plantaginaceae) is broadly distributed in different habitats. In this study, the inhibitory activity of free soluble and conjugated phenolic extracts of Veronica persica on key enzymes associated to type 2 diabetes (α-glucosidase and α-amylase) and hypertension (angiotensin I converting enzyme, ACE) was assessed, as well as their antioxidant power. Our results showed that both the extracts inhibited α-amylase, α-glucosidase and ACE in a dose-dependent manner. In particular, free phenolic extract significantly (P < 0.05) inhibited α-glucosidase (IC 50 532.97 µg/mL), whereas conjugated phenolic extract significantly (P < 0.05) inhibited α-amylase (IC 50 489.73 µg/mL) and ACE (290.06 µg/mL). The enzyme inhibitory activities of the extracts were not associated with their phenolic content. Anyway, the inhibition of α-amylase, α-glucosidase and ACE, along with the antioxidant capacity of the phenolic-rich extracts, could represent a putative mechanism through which V. persica exerts its antidiabetes and antihypertension effects.

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