Abstract
Neem oil is obtained from the seeds of the tree Azadirachta indica. Its chemical composition is very complex, being rich in terpenoids and limonoids, as well as volatile sulphur modified compounds. This work focused on the evaluation of a component of the whole Neem oil obtained by methanolic extraction and defined as MEX. Cytotoxicity was assessed on two different cell populations: a stabilized murine fibroblast line (3T6) and a tumor cell line (HeLa). The data presented here suggest a differential sensitivity of these two populations, the tumor line exhibiting a significantly higher sensitivity to MEX. The data strongly suggest that its toxic target is the cell membrane. In addition the results presented here imply that MEX may contain one or more agents that could find a potential use in anti-proliferative therapy.
Highlights
Neem oil is a natural mixture of biological interest obtained from the seeds of the tree Azadirachta indica
The results discussed in this work show that HeLa tumor cells are sensitive to a lower dosage of methanolic extract (MEX) as compared to stabilized mouse fibroblasts 3T6
Treatment at relatively low concentrations of MEX (0.1 and 0.3 mg/mL) is not dramatically cytotoxic, while viability is strongly reduced at higher concentrations (1.0 mg/mL) where almost the whole cell population fails to survive to the administration of MEX
Summary
Neem oil is a natural mixture of biological interest obtained from the seeds of the tree Azadirachta indica We recently evaluated the effects of MEX in cultured mouse fibroblasts where we observed a cytotoxic effect induced by this methanolic extract obtained from the whole Neem oil. Our results indicate that MEX might cause cell death via the activation of apoptotic pathway following significant membrane damage [4,5,6,7].
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