Abstract
BackgroundCancer has become a global public health problem and the search for new control measures is urgent. Investigation of plant products such as essential oils from Monodora myristica, Xylopia aethiopica and Xylopia parviflora might lead to new anticancer therapy. In this study, we have investigated the antineoplastic activity of essential oils from fruits of these plants growing in Chad and Cameroon.MethodsThe essential oils obtained by hydrodistillation of fruits of Monodora myristica, Xylopia aethiopica and Xylopia parviflora collected in Chad and Cameroon were analyzed by GC-FID and GC-MS and investigated for their antiproliferative activity against the breast cancer cell line (MCF7).ResultsOverall, monoterpenes were mostly found in the six essential oils. Oils from X. aethiopica and X. parviflora from Chad and Cameroon mainly contain β-pinene at 24.6%, 28.2%, 35.7% and 32.9% respectively. Monodora myristica oils from both origins contain mainly α-phellandrene at 52.7% and 67.1% respectively. The plant origin did not significantly influence the chemical composition of oils. The six essential oils exerted cytotoxic activity against cancer (MCF-7) and normal cell lines (ARPE-19), with more pronounced effect on neoplastic cells in the majority of cases. The highest selectivity was obtained with the essential oils of X. parviflora from Chad and Cameroon (5.87 and 5.54) which were more cytotoxic against MCF-7 than against normal cell line (ARPE-19) with IC50 values of 0.155 μL/mL and 0.166 μL/mL respectively.ConclusionsEssential oils from fruits of Monodora myristica, Xylopia aethiopica and Xylopia parviflora have shown acceptable antineoplastic potency, and might be investigated further in this regard.
Highlights
Cancer has become a global public health problem and the search for new control measures is urgent
In the context of our previous investigations on aromatic plants from tropical areas, the chemical analyses of essential oils obtained by hydrodistillation of fruits of X. aethiopica, X. parviflora and M. myristica collected in Cameroon showed that all of them were dominated by monoterpenes [15,16]
Chemical analysis The determination of the chemical composition of oils was achieved by gas chromatography and by gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry
Summary
Plant material and extraction procedure The fruits of Monodora myristica, Xylopia aethiopica, and Xylopia parviflora (Annonaceae) were collected from Gore (Chad) and Kribi (Cameroon) in March 2012 following the guidelines for biodiversity exploration and preservation in both countries, filed at the National Herbarium of Yaoundé-Cameroon and at the National Center for Research of Chad, where voucher specimens were identified and deposited. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry GC/MS analyses were performed using a Hewlett–Packard GC 5890 series II equipped with a HP5 (5%-phenylmethylpolysiloxane) fused silica column (30 m × 0.25 mm; film thickness 0.25 μm) interfaced with a quadrupole detector (Model 5972) applying the same temperature program as for the GC/FID analyses; injector temperature, 220°C; MS transfer line temperature, 250°C; carrier gas, helium at a flow rate of 0.6 mL/min; injection type, split, 1:10 (1 μL 10:100 CH2Cl2 solution); ionization voltage, 70 eV; electronmultiplier 1460 eV; scan range 35-300 amu; scan rate, 2.96 scan/s. Evaluation of the cytotoxic activities of essential oils on cancer and normal cell lines Human breast cancer (MCF-7) and normal epithelial (ARPE-19) cell lines used for cytotoxic activities were purchased from American Type Culture Collection (ATCC, Manassas, VA, USA). Safer essential oils were considered as those with SI > 1.5
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