Abstract
Recent scientific investigations have reported a number of essential oils to interfere with intracellular signalling pathways and to induce apoptosis in different cancer cell types. In this paper, Lavandin Essential Oil (LEO), a natural sterile hybrid obtained by cross-breeding L. angustifolia × L. latifolia, was tested on human leukaemia cells (HL60). Based on the MTT results, the reduced cell viability of HL60 cells was further investigated to determine whether cell death was related to the apoptotic process. HL60 cells treated for 24 h with LEO were processed by flow cytometry, and the presence of Annexin V was measured. The activation of caspases-3 was evaluated by western blot and immunofluorescence techniques. Treated cells were also examined by scanning and transmission electron microscopy to establish the possible occurrence of morphological alterations during the apoptotic process. LEO main compounds, such as linalool, linalyl acetate, 1,8-cineole, and terpinen-4-ol, were also investigated by MTT and flow cytometry analysis. The set of obtained results showed that LEO treatments induced apoptosis in a dose-dependent, but not time-dependent, manner on HL60 cells, while among LEO main compounds, both terpinen-4-ol and linalyl acetate were able to induce apoptosis.
Highlights
It has been well established that natural compounds are a source of new molecules of potential pharmaceutical interest [1]
In our previous work [19], we investigated the chemical composition of Lavandin Essential Oil (LEO) by GC/MS and highlighted that terpinen-4-ol, linalyl acetate, linalool, and 1,8-cineole are main LEO compounds
The MTT results have shown that LEO treatment is dose- and not time-dependent since the EC50 values obtained at different times of incubation did not show significant differences, ranging from 117.66 ± 5.50 μg/mL after 24 h to 111.00 ± 1.73 μg/mL after 72 h of treatment
Summary
It has been well established that natural compounds are a source of new molecules of potential pharmaceutical interest [1]. The chemical characteristics and biological activities of natural products, especially Essential Oils (EOs), are object of great interest thanks to their various wide applications, mainly in the medical, pharmaceutical, and cosmetic fields [2]. Plants containing EOs are only a small percentage of the wider plant molecule population; these species are defined as aromatic plants and are distributed all over the world [3]. The genera to which they belong are limited to a small number of families, such as Asteraceae, Cupressaceae, Lamiaceae, Lauraceae, Myrtaceae, Poaceae, Piperaceae, and Rutaceae [4]. The main constituents of EOs are monoterpene hydrocarbons, sesquiterpene hydrocarbons, oxygenated sesquiterpenes, oxygenated monoterepenes, and esters [5].
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