Chemical composition andin vitrocytotoxic effects of the essential oil fromNectandra leucanthaleaves

Abstract

Context: Nectandra (Lauraceae) species have been used in folk medicine as an antidiarrheal, analgesic, antifungal, etc., and have many pharmacological proprieties. Objective: Investigation of the chemical composition and cytotoxicity of essential oil from Nectandra leucantha Nees & Mart. leaves. This is the first study involving N. leucantha reported in the literature. Material and methods: The essential oil of N. leucantha leaves was obtained by hydrodistillation. Its chemical composition was determined using a combination of GC/FID, GC/MS, and determination of Kovats index (KI). In vitro cytotoxic activity was evaluated against six cancer cell lines -murine melanoma (B16F10-Nex2), human glioblastome (U-87), human cervical carcinoma (HeLa), human colon carcinoma (HCT), human breast adenocarcinoma (MCF7), and human cervical tumor (Siha) as well as against one non-tumorigenic cell line -human foreskin fibroblast (HFF). Results: Thirty-three compounds were identified primarily sesquiterpenes (81.41%), the main compounds being bicyclogermacrene (28.44%), germacrene A (7.34%), spathulenol (5.82%), and globulol (5.25%). Furthermore, monoterpenes were also found in the analyzed oil (12.84%), predominantly a-and b-pinenes (6.59 and 4.57%, respectively). The crude essential oil displayed significant cytotoxic activity against B16F10-Nex2 (IC 50 33 ± 1 lg/mL) and U87 (IC 50 75.95 ± 0.03 lg/mL) and HeLa (IC 50 60 ± 12 lg/mL) cell lines. The main identified compound, bicyclogermacrene, displayed IC 50 ranging from 3.1 ± 0.2 to 21 ± 6 lg/mL. Discussion and conclusion: The results indicate that the crude oils from leaves of N. leucantha displayed cytotoxic activity being bicyclogermacrene, the main compound identified in the crude oil responsible, at least in part, for this potential.

Chemical Diversity, Biological Activity, and Genetic Aspects of Three Ocotea Species from the Amazon

“…The EO of leaves of Endlicheria arenosa was dominated by bicyclogermacrene (42.2%), germacrene D (12.5%), and β-caryophyllene (10.1%) [23]. Similarly, the EO of Nectandra leucantha showed as the main compounds bicyclogermacrene (28.4%), germacrene A (7.3%), α-pinene (6.6%), and β-pinene (4.6%) [24]. The sesquiterpene δ-cadinene identified in the EO of branches was detected as the main compound in EOs of leaf and bark of Beilschmiedia madang (17.0% and 20.5%, respectively) and was associated with germacrene D in the oil of barks of Beilschmiedia glabra [25,26].…”

“…β-Caryophyllene and caryophyllene oxide displayed activity against several tumor cells such as breast cancer (MCF-7), colon cancer (HCT-116), and human prostate (PC-3) [37,38]. The values of IC 50 of bicyclogermacrene, α-pinene, and β-pinene against MCF-7 cells were 19.0, 30.7, and 80.2 µg/mL, respectively [24,39]. …”

Crystal structure of Dehydrodieugenol B methyl ether, a neolignan from Nectandra leucantha Nees and Mart (Lauraceae)

“…Recent studies from our group describe the antiparasitical (against Leishmania donovani and Trypanosoma cruzi) and cytotoxic activities of N. leucantha and its isolated metabolites. In terms of chemical composition, neolignans and sesquiterpenes were the major compounds from extracts and essential oils, respectively (da Costa-Silva et al, 2015;Grecco et al, 2015Grecco et al, , 2017. These studies allowed the isolation of C-C-and C-O-C-linked neolignans, including the known isomers dehydrodieugenol and dehydrodieugenol B, and of the novel compound dehydrodieugenol B methyl ether, the object of the present study.…”

Cytotoxic and Antimicrobial Constituents from the Essential Oil of Lippia alba (Verbenaceae)

“…These differences may lead to a different oil composition and, therefore, to different pharmacological effects [9,12]. As part of our continuous study with volatile oils from Brazilian species [24,25,26], the present work deals with the chemical composition of the essential oil from leaves of the Brazilian species of L. alba , as well as the cytotoxic and antimicrobial evaluation of crude essential oil.…”