ANTIOXIDANT AND IN VITRO CYTOTOXIC ACTIVITY OF COMMERCIAL LEMONGRASS, SEA BUCKTHORN AND BASIL ESSENTIAL OILS, AGAINST COLORECTAL CANCER CELL LINE HCT 116

Abstract

Colorectal cancer is one of the most common forms of cancer with a high mortality rate. Classical medication with chemo-therapy based on fluorouracil and leucovorin have the disadvantage of non-selectivity, so they act on both cancerous and healthy cells. Natural compounds present a high interest due to their high safety profile, low cost and promising results. For this reason, the present study aimed to investigate the cytotoxic effect of Cymbopogon citrates (lemongrass), Hippophae rhamnodies (sea buckthorn) and Ocimum basilicum (basil) essential oils, on HCT 116 colorectal cancer cell line. In addition, the antioxidant activity of the three essential oils was also determined. Thus, the outcomes showed that of the three oils, Lemongrass essential oil (LGEO) presents a strong antioxidant potency, comparable with the antioxidant potency of ascorbic acid, used as standard (91.68% vs. 97.04%). The morphology analysis revealed the fact that the oils slightly change the shape and cell confluence, the most visible effect being observed at LGEO 75 µg/mL. Our results confirmed the potency of LGEO to inhibit cell viability from 84.6%-at the lowest concentration (5 µg/mL) to 7.8% at the highest (75 µg/mL). The other two oils did not affect significantly cell growing. Hoechst assay confirmed the tendency of all the three oils to modify the shape and to fragment the cell nuclei.