Effects of natural phenolic compound carvacrol on the human gastric adenocarcinoma (AGS) cells in vitro

Abstract

Gastric cancer (GC) is the most common cause of morbidity and mortality because of cancer. Medicinal plants containing polyphenolic compounds have gained importance in anticancer treatment. In this context, carvacrol is a main component of many plants in the family Lamiaceae that are frequently used in folk medicine and a good candidate to investigate for GC treatment. The present study aimed to explore the cytotoxic, genotoxic, apoptotic, and reactive oxygen species (ROS)-generating effects of carvacrol on gastric adenocarcinoma in vitro. For these purposes, human gastric adenocarcinoma (AGS) cells were used and analyzed after 24 h of exposure to carvacrol with different concentrations. The cytotoxicity, ROS generation, glutathione (GSH) level, and genotoxicity were investigated by the ATP cell viability assay, 2',7'-dichlorodihydrofluorescein-diacetate assay, GSH/GSSG-Glo assay, and comet assay, respectively. Apoptosis induction was detected by acridine orange/ethidium bromide staining and western blotting at below the half-maximal growth inhibitory concentration value. Carvacrol showed cytotoxic, genotoxic, apoptotic, ROS generating, and GSH-reducing effects on AGS cells in a dose-dependent manner. There was a close negative relationship between cell viability and ROS level. Carvacrol inhibited the proliferation of AGS cells, suggesting that it could be a novel and strong anticancer agent against the human gastric adenocarcinoma. These results support the interest of natural diet components in the development of therapeutic products for diseases.

Carvacrol and human health: A comprehensive review

“…Several reports have shown that CV exhibits strong cytotoxic, genotoxic, and proapoptotic activity against cancer cells, in a dose‐dependent manner, also with effects on cell invasion by reducing the expression of matrix metalloprotease 2 and 9 (Fan et al, ). A plethora of cancer cells, indeed, have been tested, including mouse B16 melanoma (He et al, ), Hep‐2 human larynx carcinoma cells (Stammati et al, ), gastric carcinoma cells (Günes‐Bayir et al, ) leiomyosarcoma cells (Karkabounas et al, ), chronic myeloid leukemia cells, K562, A549 non‐small‐cell lung cancer cells, MDA‐MB‐231 human metastatic breast cancer cells (Arunasree, ; Baranauskaite et al, ; He et al, ; Koparal & Zeytinoglu, ; Lampronti et al, ), and human colon cancer cells (Fan et al, ).…”

Evaluation of the antimicrobial activity and cytotoxicity of different components of natural origin present in essential oils

“…There is also a difference between the effect of THY and CRV on macrophages, since subcytotoxic concentrations were 0.060 and 0.090 mg/mL, respectively. Previous studies have also studied the toxicity of different compounds present in EOs on different human cell lines, such as fibroblasts (50), intestinal cells (51) or different tumor cells (52; 53). Their results show subcytotoxic concentrations for carvacrol and thymol in the same range as ours ( ~ 500 μM) (51) or higher (50% viability at ~ 5 μg/mL) (50) and also very similar for cinnamaldehyde ( ~ 10 μg/mL) (53) pointing to apoptosis and membrane damage as key cytotoxic mechanisms.…”

The Importance of Polyphenols as Functional Food in Health

“…Low doses of phenolic terpens called carvacrol in essential oils of plants from the Lamiaceae family were shown to play an important role in the prevention of diseases such as cancer due to their antioxidant activity (20).…”

“…However, high doses of some polyphenolic compounds were shown to cause DNA damage, apoptosis, and cell death. (12,20). Free radicals damage DNA, lipids and proteins in the cell.…”