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Herba Equiseti
74%, at the 200 and 400 mg/kg bw doses, respectively). The extract increased
the pentylenetetrazole-induced convulsion latency, diminished
the severity of convulsions, reduced the percentage of rats which developed
convulsions (25% and 50% at the 200 and 400 mg/kg bw doses, respectively)
and protected animals from death, thus confirming the anticonvulsant
effect of the extract (53).
Antiurolithiasis activity
Intravenous infusion of a hot aqueous extract of the dried aerial parts
(dose not stated) to female Wistar rats showed antiurolithiasis activity
both in prevention and in treatment of kidney stone formation (54).
Antimicrobial activity
The antibacterial activities of 90–95% ethanol extracts of the dried aerial
parts were assessed in vitro. At a concentration of 500 µg/disc, the
extracts exhibited weak activity against Bacillus subtilis and Streptococcus
faecalis, but were inactive against Escherichia coli, Aerobacter aerogenes,
Bacillus globifer, Bacillus mycoides, Proteus morganii, Proteus
vulgaris, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Serratia marcescens and Streptococcus
aureus (55, 56). A methanol extract of the dried leaves at a maximum
inhibitory concentration >500 µg/ml was inactive against Mycobacterium
avium and Mycobacterium smegmatis in a study using a broth culture
method (57).
The disc diffusion method was also used for the evaluation of the antimicrobial
activity of the essential oil from the stems of Equisetum arvense
against Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae,
Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Salmonella enteritidis, Aspergillus
niger and Candida albicans. A 1:10 dilution of the essential oil was shown
to possess a broad spectrum of antimicrobial activity against all strains
tested (58).
A dried extract of the fresh aerial parts was active against Aspergillus
flavus in vitro (concentration not stated) (59). The antifungal activity of an
aqueous-ethanol extract of dried stems (1:1), at a concentration of 500 g/
ml/agar plate was assessed. The results showed that the extract was inactive
against Aspergillus fumigatus, Aspergillus niger, Botrytis cinerea, Penicillium
digitatum, Rhizopus nigricans, Trichophyton mentagrophytes, Candida
albicans and Saccharomyces pastorianus (56, 60). A 95% ethanol extract at
various concentrations was inactive against Fusarium culmorum, Fusarium
solani, Penicillium notatum and Scopulariopsis species (55). An aqueousmethanol
extract (1:1) of the dried aerial parts inhibited HIV-1 reverse
transcriptase activity in cell culture at a concentration of 10% (61).
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