Antiproliferative Activity of EO Extracted from Different Aromatic Plants on Different Cell Lines

Abstract

Essential Oils (EOs) are used in many products to be intended for human utilization. Despite their pharmacological applications in the folk and traditional medicine, studies on EO anti-proliferative properties are still limited. The aim of this study was to investigate the anti-proliferative properties of hydrodistilled EO from 16 aromatic plants grown in Yemen. The cytotoxicity of the EOs was determined against seven cell lines namely; HeLa, MCF7, MDA-MB 231, CEMss, WEHI-3B, 3T3 and CHO cell lines using the 3-[4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium (MTT) assay. Lantana camara EO was the most cytotoxic extract against all tested cell lines with an IC50 value of ≤0.01% (v/v), except the non-tumorous cell lines CHO with IC50 value of 0.025%±0.005% v/v. While Cinnamomum zeylanicum EO showed high cytotoxic activity against HeLa, MDA-MB 231, 3T3 and CHO cell lines with IC50 value of ≤0.010% (v/v). EO from Ocimum basilicum and Mentha piperita were among the ones with no activity or IC50 value of >0.010% (v/v). The results demonstrated the potential of the EO from aromatic plants from Yemen for possible source of cancer treatment.