Anticancer activity of food grade nanoemulsions on hepatic cancer cells: a comparative study

Abstract

The current study was aimed to prepare stable NEs from plant oils to evaluate their cytotoxic effect on HepG2 cells. Oils form three different samples (flax seeds, cloves and olives) were extracted. NEs from these oils were prepared separately by ultrasonication method. After characterization of stable NEs, they were evaluated for their antioxidant and anticancer activities. Extracted oils and their NEs were applied separately to HepG2 cell line to construct a comparison and MTT assay was used for this purpose. Prepared NEs were found more effective against cancer cell line as compared to their respective oils. MTT assay showed efficacy of NEs in reducing cell viability with IC50 value of 10 µl (flax seed oil), 25 µl (clove oil NE) and 1 µl (olive oil NE), and was safe to normal cells. The results of the current study revealed that NEs prepared from flax seed, clove and olive oil have the potential for further development as anticancer agents.