Daucus carota L. ssp. carota (Apiacea) is used in traditional medicine in Lebanon and in different regions throughout the world. The present study investigates the in vitro anticancer activities of Daucus carota oil extract (DCOE) on four human cancer cell lines as well as its in vitro antioxidant activity. DCOE was extracted from the dried umbels with 50:50 acetone-methanol. The oil extract was analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and screened for its antioxidant properties in vitro using 1,1-diphenyl-2-picryl hydrazyl free radical scavenging assay (DPPH), ferrous ion chelating assay (FIC) and the ferric reducing antioxidant power assay (FRAP). The anticancer activity of the oil extract against human colon (HT-29, Caco-2) and breast (MCF-7, MDA-MB-231) cancer cell lines was evaluated using the trypan blue exclusion method and the WST-1 cell proliferation assay. DCOE exhibited antioxidant activity in all assays used. The FRAP value was 164 ± 5.5 µmol FeSO4 /g, and the IC50 values for DPPH and FIC assays were 2.1 ± 0.03 mg/ml and 0.43 ± 0.02 mg/ml, respectively. Also, DCOE demonstrated a significant increase in cell death and decrease in cell proliferation. The effect of DCOE on the cell lines exhibited time and dose-dependent responses. The present study established that DCOE possesses both antioxidant and promising anticancer activities.

Daucus carota L. ssp. carota (Apiacea, wild carrot, Queen Anne's lace) has been used in folk medicine throughout the world and recently was shown to possess anticancer and antioxidant activities. This study aims to determine the anticancer activity of the pentane fraction (F1) and the 1:1 pentane:diethyl ether fraction (F2) of the Daucus Carota oil extract (DCOE) against human colon adenocarcinoma cell lines (HT-29 and Caco-2). Treatment of cells with various concentrations of F1 or F2 fractions produced a dose-dependent inhibition of cell proliferation. Flow cytometric analysis indicated that both fractions induced sub-G1 phase accumulation and increased apoptotic cell death. Western blot revealed the activation of caspase-3, PARP cleavage, and a considerable increase in Bax and p53 levels, and a decrease in Bcl-2 level. Treatment of HT-29 cells with either fraction markedly decreased the levels of both phosphorylated Erk and Akt. Furthermore, the combined treatment of F1 or F2 with wortmannin showed no added inhibition of cell survival suggesting an effect of F1 or F2 through the phosphatidyl inositol 3-kinase (PI3K) pathway. This study proposes that DCOE fractions (F1 and F2) inhibit cell proliferation by inducing cell cycle arrest and apoptosis in HT-29 cells through the suppression of mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK)/Erk and PI3K/Akt pathways.

BackgroundDaucus carota L.ssp.carota (wild carrot), an herb used in folk medicine worldwide, was recently demonstrated to exhibit anticancer activity. In this study we examined the anticancer effect of Daucus carota oil extract (DCOE) fractions on the human breast adenocarcinoma cell lines MDA-MB-231 and MCF-7 and clarified the mechanism of action.Methods and resultsUsing the WST assay, the pentane fraction (F1) and 1:1 pentane:diethyl ether fraction (F2) were shown to possess the highest cytotoxicity against both cell lines. Flow cytometric analysis revealed that both fractions induced the accumulation of cells in the sub-G1 phase, increase in apoptotic cell death and chromatin condensation. The increase in apoptosis in response to treatment was also apparent in the increase in BAX and the decrease in Bcl-2 levels as well as the proteolytic cleavage of both caspase-3 and PARP as revealed by Western blot. Furthermore, treatment of MDA-MB-231 cells with either fraction significantly reduced the level of phosphorylated Erk but did not show any effect on phosphorylated Akt. The combined treatment with a potent PI3K inhibitor (wortmannin) and F1 or F2 fraction had a synergistic inhibitory effect on cell survival which shows that these two drugs work on different pathways.ConclusionsThese results suggest that the pentane-based fractions of DCOE possess potential anti-cancer activity that is mainly mediated through the Erk pathway.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/1472-6882-14-387) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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Herein, to develop the comprehension of the microbiological activity of metal complexes based on benzaldehyde‐N4‐thiosemicarbazone derivatives, we described the synthesis, characterization of copper(II), zinc(II) and cadmium(II) complexes with vanillin‐4‐methylthiosemicarbazone (MTSVN) and 3,4‐dihydroxybenzaldehyde‐4‐methylthiosemicarbazone (MTSDHB). The crystal structures of the [ZnCl2(MTSVN)2] (L1 C1) and [CdBr2(MTSDHB)2.H2O]2 (L2C5) complexes were determined by the single X‐Ray diffraction method, the central ion is coordinated through the sulphur. For the other complexes, the ion is coordinated through the sulfur as well as azomethine nitrogen atom of the thiosemicarbazone. All these compounds, the two ligands and the new nine complexes were screened in vitro for their antifungal activity against human pathogenic fungi: Candida albicans and Aspergillus fumigatus, and for their antibacterial activity against Gram (+) bacteria such as Bacillus subtilis and Enterococcus faecalis as well as against Gram (−) bacteria such as Paracoccus yeei and Acinetobacter baumanii. By investigating the structure‐activity relationships, we found that the two ligands MTSVN (L1) exhibited significant effect against E. faecalis and A. baumanii and the MTSDHB (L2) acted only against E. faecalis. Furthermore, all the complexes (L1C1–L1C4 and L2C1–L2C5) showed significant antifungal and antibacterial activities against gram‐positive, gram‐negative bacteria, and two fungal human pathogens.

Context: Wild carrot, Daucus carota L. ssp. carota (Apiacae), is widely distributed throughout the world and has various uses in traditional medicine in Lebanon.Objective: The present study aimed to fractionate and analyze the chemical composition of the Daucus carota oil extract (DCOE) fractions and to evaluate their antioxidant and hepatoprotective properties in vitro and in vivo. Materials and methods: DCOE was chromatographed on silica gel column to produce four fractions: pentane (F1), 50:50 pentane:diethyl ether (F2), diethyl ether (F3), and 93:7 chloroform: methanol (F4). Qualitative and quantitative analyses of oil fractions were performed by GC-MS and HPLC techniques. The in vitro antioxidant properties were assessed using DPPH, FIC, and ferric-reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) assays. The hepatoprotective property was determined by examining the levels of serum markers (alanine transaminase (ALT) and aspartate transaminase (AST)) and hepatic antioxidant (superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), and glutathione-S-transferase (GST)) enzymes in CCl 4 -intoxicated mice pretreated with intraperitoenal 50, 100, or 200 mg/kg b.w. of the oil fractions for 5 d. Results: GCMS analysis of F2 revealed the presence of 2-himachalen-6-ol (61.4%) which is reported for the first time in Daucus carota species. F3 and F4 were rich in phenolics and flavonoids and demonstrated significant DPPH activity (IC 50 ¼ 0.29 and 0.38 mg/ml, respectively) and high FRAP values (225.11 and 437.59 mmol FeSO 4 /g, respectively). The sesquiterpene-rich fraction F1 had the highest FIC ability (IC 50 ¼ 0.28 mg/ml). Pretreatment with F1 and F4 reversed the CCl 4 -induced decrease in SOD, CAT, and GST levels and reduced significantly hepatic damage. Discussion and conclusion: The current results suggested that wild carrot oil fractions exhibited a unique chemical composition and possessed significant antioxidant activities as well as hepatoprotective effects against CCl 4 -induced hepatotoxicity.

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