The Cytotoxic Potential for Syzygium Aromaticum and Nigella Sativa Essential Oil Compared to Doxorubicin against Pancreatic, Colonic, and Cervical Cancer Cell Lines

Abstract

Syzygium Aromaticum (clove) and Nigella sativa (black seed), traditional medicinal herbs, display broad anticancer activity. The observations supported these oils' anti-proliferative and cytotoxic activities by MTT assay. The cold-pressed extracted oil was evaluated against cervical (HeLa), pancreatic (Panc), and colon (HCT) carcinoma cells compared to doxorubicin. Clove oil had the lowest IC50 values against HeLa, HCT, and Panc cells, which were 0.25, 0.38, and 5.26 µg/ml, respectively. Black seed oil was next, with IC50 values of about 5.51, 4.24, and 22.7 µg/ml, respectively. These oils were extra potent than the reference drug, doxorubicin, which had IC50 values of about 101, 188, and 244 µg/ml. According to a flow cytometry study, clove oil causes cell death in HeLa cells more than the medication doxorubicin. Clove oil has proven to possess strong inhibitory activity of the expression of anti-apoptotic protein Bcl-2 than doxorubicin. The Diphenylamine method demonstrated that clove oil causes DNA damage and increases DNA fragmentation rate more than doxorubicin. GC/MS results showed that the clove and black seed contain many valuable anticancer compounds, such as p-cymene, a-Longipinene, Idebenone, and caryophyllene for black seed and eugenol for clove. Clove oil is therefore regarded as an excellent natural anticancer agent superior to chemotherapy medications with long-term side effects.