In vitro effects of two major phenolic compounds from the family Lamiaceae plants on the human gastric carcinoma cells

Abstract

Phenolic compounds of essential oils from the family Lamiaceae are commonly used substances in the food industry because of their flavouring, antimicrobial and antioxidant properties. In this context, it has become important to have healthy and safe products for consumers who are exposed to these phenolic compounds. The present study was aimed to investigate the toxic effects of carvacrol, thymol and their mixture on human gastric carcinoma (AGS) cells. Cells were analyzed after 24 h of exposure to different concentrations of carvacrol, thymol and their mixture by the ATP cell viability, 2',7' dichlorodihydrofluorescein diacetate (H2DCF-DA), reducte glutatione/oxide glutathione ((GSH)/GSSG-Glo) and comet assays. Apoptosis induction was studied by acridine orange/ethidium bromide staining and western blotting. Carvacrol, thymol and their mixture induced cytotoxicity, genotoxicity, apoptosis, increased reactive oxygen species (ROS) and decreased GSH levels after 24 h of their exposure in a dose-dependent manner. A close negative relationship was found between cell viability and ROS generation. We examined dose-dependent cytotoxic effects of carvacrol, thymol and their mixture in human AGS cells. Increased intracellular ROS causes oxidative stress in cells. The results indicated that these compounds should be used carefully in the food industry.

In Vitro Hormetic Effect Investigation of Thymol on Human Fibroblast and Gastric Adenocarcinoma Cells

“…A positive correlation was found among cell death and ROS production after 24 h of exposure to thymol at higher doses, whereas a negative correlation was observed between cell death and GSH levels. These findings are in agreement with earlier reports [11,[13][14][15]. It is noteworthy to mention that in the present study, low doses of thymol induced the increased proliferation of healthy human fibroblasts as compared to unexposed control cells.…”

“…Another study focused on in vivo passage kinetics and has evidenced thymol metabolization in the stomach or intestine after an oral application [22]. Our research recently revealed that human gastric adenocarcinoma (AGS) cells are highly sensitive to thymol in a concentration-dependent manner [14,15]. Given those studies, it is of great interest to elucidate in depth whether thymol may have therapeutic potential against e.g., gastric cancer.…”

Bioassay-Guided Isolation of Antiproliferative Compounds from Limbarda crithmoides (L.) Dumort

“…Most of the Inula metabolites tested were sesquiterpenolides. On the other hand, thymol and thymol derivatives as well as extracts and essential oils containing these compounds [61][62][63][64] are known to be cytotoxic. These results suggest that the H extract induced a significant activation of a p21-dependent, p53-independent pathway in OCI-AML3 cells and that compound 2 was responsible of this activity and the associated cell cycle arrest.…”

“…Most of the Inula metabolites tested were sesquiterpenolides. On the other hand, thymol and thymol derivatives as well as extracts and essential oils containing these compounds [61][62][63][64] are known to be cytotoxic.…”

The neuroprotective effect of Ocimum sanctum Linn. ethanolic extract on human embryonic kidney-293 cells as in vitro model of neurodegenerative disease

“…Biological studies on this plants have reported anti-inflammatory [ 12 ], antiallergic [ 13 ], antioxidant effect [ 14 ] and also the possibility for zootechnical and reproductive medicine applications [ 15 ]. Lamiaceae exhibits cytotoxic and apoptotic effects on human cervical carcinoma (HeLa) and human breast cancer (MCF-7) cell lines [ 16 ] and gastric carcinoma cells [ 17 ]. O. sanctum Linn.…”