Cytotoxic effects of essential oils from three Lippia gracilis Schauer genotypes on HeLa, B16, and MCF-7 cells and normal human fibroblasts

Abstract

ABSTRACT. This study aimed to evaluate the chemical composition of the essential oils from three genotypes of Lippia gracilis Schauer (Verbenaceae) and investigate the cytotoxic activities of these oils. Essential oils were extracted from the leaves using a Clevengertype apparatus, and chemical analysis was performed using a gas chromatograph coupled to a mass spectrometer and flame ionization detector. 3T3, MRC5, B16, HeLa, and MCF-7 cell lines were used to study the in vitro cytotoxicity of the essential oils, and the level of cell death was determined using the 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide test with three replicates. The cytotoxic activity was expressed as the concentration that inhibited 50% of cell growth. The main compound in the essential oil of LGRA-106 was thymol (40.52%), while LGRA-109 and LGRA-201 contained 45.84 and 32.60% carvacrol, respectively, as their major compound. The essential oils of L. gracilis showed cytotoxic activity against both normal and tumor cells at concentrations below 100 μg/mL; this demonstrated the antitumor potential of these essential oils, which should be further investigated.

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.…”

In vitro antibacterial and cytotoxic activities of carvacrol and terpinen-4-ol against biofilm formation on titanium implant surfaces

“…Nevertheless, few studies have reported on the cytotoxicity of carvacrol on fibroblasts. Melo et al (2014) reported an IC 50 value (the concentration that inhibited 50% of cell growth) of 62.5 lg ml À1 for carvacrol in the MRC5 (normal human fibroblast). In contrast, Houdkova et al (2017) showed that the lowest cytotoxicity for carvacrol was an IC 50 value of 5.09 lg ml À1 using the same cell line as used by Melo et al (2014).…”

“…Melo et al (2014) reported an IC 50 value (the concentration that inhibited 50% of cell growth) of 62.5 lg ml À1 for carvacrol in the MRC5 (normal human fibroblast). In contrast, Houdkova et al (2017) showed that the lowest cytotoxicity for carvacrol was an IC 50 value of 5.09 lg ml À1 using the same cell line as used by Melo et al (2014). On the other hand, several studies reported cytotoxic effects of carvacrol on different cells such as HepG2 (Yin et al 2012), SiHa, HeLa (Mehdi et al 2011), Caco 2 cells (Dusan et al 2006;Llana-Ruiz-Cabello et al 2014), human oral cancer cells (Liang and Lu 2012), human metastatic breast cancer cells (Arunasree 2010) and HL-60 promyelocytic and Jurkat T lymphoma cells (Bhakkiyalakshmi et al 2016).…”

Pharmacological Properties and Molecular Mechanisms of Thymol: Prospects for Its Therapeutic Potential and Pharmaceutical Development

“…Thymol triggered cytotoxicity in MCF-7 breast cancer cell lines with an LC 50 of 2.5 μg/mL (Melo et al, 2014). In another study, Thymol present in the essential oil of T. lanceolatus (IC 50 = 304.81 μg/ml) was shown to induce cytotoxicity and proliferation in MCF-7 cells (Khadir et al, 2016).…”