brine shrimp lethality test.

The study was designed to determine the in-vitro antibacterial and cytotoxic activities of methanolic extract of Melia azedarach leaves.  Dried powder of leaves of Melia azedarach was extracted with methanol. The Melia azedarach extract was assayed for antibacterial and cytotoxic activities using agar well diffusion technique and brine shrimp lethality test, respectively. The methanolic extract of Melia azedarach showed moderate antibacterial activity against three bacterial strains such as Bacillus subtilis, Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus. The methanolic extract of the plant exhibited strong cytotoxicity in the brine shrimp lethality bioassay test. These results indicated the use of Melia azedarach to treat infections with emphasis to isolate and characterize the active principle responsible for antibacterial and cytotoxic activities and its exploitation as therapeutic agent.