Polyherbal Formulation for Atherosclerosis: GC-MS Fingerprinting, In-vivo Antioxidant and Antibacterial Activities

Atherosclerosis is a prolonged inflammatory disease affecting large and medium-sized arteries, requiring a phytotherapeutic approach that incorporates multiple bioactive elements and a multi-target strategy. A novel polyherbal formulation has been formulated to treat atherosclerosis. The methanolic extract of the formulation has been characterized using gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS) fingerprinting analysis. The extract was further screened for antioxidant activity like DPPH radical scavenging assay, hydrogen peroxide scavenging activity, intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) activity and antibacterial activity like Resauzarin assay as most of the identified compounds are with antioxidant and antimicrobial properties. Upto 38 phytocompounds were tentatively identified by GC-MS characterization using NIST library. Scavenging activities were observed more in the DPPH assay, ranging from 33.33 to 86.68% than in the hydrogen peroxide scavenging assay which ranged from 31.05 to 81.66%. In the resauzarin assay, the plant extract displays substantial antibacterial activity compared to the positive control chloramphenicol. The DPPH and hydrogen peroxide scavenging activity results indicate that the extract has significant radical-scavenging properties compared to the positive control ascorbic acid. Based on MIC values in antibacterial assay, the extract exhibits potential antibacterial activity, stating its stability towards bacterial growth.