Chemical Composition and in Vitro Cytotoxic Screening of Sixteen Commercial Essential Oils on Five Cancer Cell Lines
Abstract
Abstract The in vitro cytotoxic activity on human cancer cell lines of sixteen commercial EOs such as Aloysia citriodora, Boswellia sacra, Boswellia serrata, Cinnamomum zeylanicum, Cistus ladanifer, Citrus × aurantium, Citrus limon, Citrus sinensis, Cymbopogon citratus, Foeniculum vulgare, Illicium verum, Litsea cubeba, Satureja montana, Syzygium aromaticum, Thymus capitatus and Thymus vulgaris was performed using the MTT reduction assay. The screening was carried out on human cancer cells of breast adenocarcinoma (MCF7, T47D and MDA‐MB‐231), chronic myelogenous erythroleukemia (K562) and neuroblastoma cell lines (SH‐SY5Y). C. zeylanicum and L. cubeba EOs were the most active on almost all the cell lines studied and thus could be promising as an anticancer agent. These two species showed a difference in their composition even though they belong to the Lauraceae family. Almost 57 % of the true cinnamon composition was made of (E)‐cinnamaldehyde, while L. cubeba showed citral as the major compound (68.9 %). The K562 cells were the most sensitive to these oils with an IC50 ranging from 5.2 parts‐per million (ppm) (C. zeylanicum) to 11.1 ppm (L. cubeba). The latter oil also showed an important cytotoxicity on MDA‐MB‐231 (13.4 ppm).
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CEO has been tested against different cancer types, such as colon, lung, breast, pancreatic, leukemia, cervical, and prostate.
“CEO has been tested against different cancer types, such as colon [41,93], lung [93,95], breast [41], pancreatic [41], leukemia [41,94], cervical [41], and prostate [41,93].”
From Clove essential oil (Syzygium aromaticum L. Myrtaceae): Extraction, chemical composition, food applications, and essential bioactivity for human health (2021) · cites this paper as [94]
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Haro-González, J. N., Castillo-Herrera, G. A., Martínez-Velázquez, M., & Espinosa-Andrews, H. (2021) · Molecules · doi:10.3390/molecules26216387 · Cited by 463 · see citing works
- Authors
- Najar, B., Shortrede, J. E., Pistelli, L., & Buhagiar, J.
- Affiliations
- University of Pisa (IT)
- University of Malta (MT)
- Corresponding author
- Pistelli, Luisa
- Venue
- Chemistry & Biodiversity
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2019-12-12
- Volume
- 17
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- e1900478-e1900478
- ISSN
- 1612-1872 (ISSN-L)
- 1612-1880
- OpenAlex
- W2983360033
- Cited by
- 76
- References
- 54
- Citations by year
- 2026: 5 · 2025: 12 · 2024: 15 · 2023: 11 · 2022: 13 · 2021: 15 · 2020: 4 · 2019: 1
- FWCI
- 6.36
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Chemistry & Biodiversity (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- CINECA IRIS Institutial research information system (University of Pisa) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Food Science › Essential Oils and Antimicrobial Activity
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Plant Science › Insect Pest Control Strategies
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Phytochemical Studies and Bioactivities
- Keywords
- essential oils, cytotoxicity, anticancer activity, chemical composition, Cinnamomum zeylanicum, Litsea cubeba, breast adenocarcinoma, chronic myeloid leukemia, neuroblastoma, MCF-7 cells, K562 cells, SH-SY5Y cells, MDA-MB-231 cells, (E)-cinnamaldehyde, citral, Boswellia serrata, thyme
- MeSH terms
- Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic, Dose-Response Relationship, Drug, Drug Evaluation, Preclinical, Drug Screening Assays, Antitumor, Humans, Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry, Oils, Volatile, Structure-Activity Relationship, Tumor Cells, Cultured, Cell Proliferation
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