Evaluation of Anticancer Activity of Satureja montana Supercritical and Spray-Dried Extracts on Ehrlich's Ascites Carcinoma Bearing Mice.

Jelena Vladić,Senka Vidović,Tatjana Ćebović,Stela Jokić

doi:10.3390/plants9111532

Abstract

Satureja montana herbal species belongs to aromatic medicinal plants with a significant place in traditional medicine. However, products produced with conventional procedures do not meet the requirements of the modern market which include environmentally-safe processes that provide quality, safe, and standardized products. In this study, the antiproliferative activity of S. montana extracts obtained by supercritical carbon dioxide and solid–liquid extraction followed by spray drying was investigated using the in vivo model of Ehrlich ascites carcinoma (EAC) in mice. The impact of two concentrations of extracts on the growth of tumor and the redox status of malignant cells was monitored. It was determined that the extracts induced oxidative stress in the malignant cells which was confirmed by the changes in activity of biochemical indicators of oxidative stress. The posttreatment was not an efficient approach, while the extracts applied as pretreatment and treatment resulted in an increase in the xanthine oxidase (XOD) activity, a decrease in catalase (CAT) activity, and an increase in the intensity of lipid peroxidation (LPx). Furthermore, a decrease in the values of reduced glutathione (GSH) and an increase in glutathione reductase (GR) and glutathione peroxidase (GSHPx) in EAC cells were recorded.

Highlights

Winter savory (Satureja montana L.) represents an aromatic plant from the Lamiaceae family.The benefits of S. montana have long been recognized in traditional medicine which has established the plant as a widespread folk remedy
In order to determine the activity of S. montana extracts on the parameters of tumor growth, the changes in cell parameters were monitored—ascites volume, number of tumor cells, and tumor cells variability (Figure 1; Tables A1–A3)
The most significant decrease was recorded in the group that was pretreated with SC5

Summary

Introduction

Winter savory (Satureja montana L.) represents an aromatic plant from the Lamiaceae family.The benefits of S. montana have long been recognized in traditional medicine which has established the plant as a widespread folk remedy. S. montana is rich in essential oil with oxygen-containing phenolic monoterpenes carvacrol and thymol as its most dominant components [1]. In addition to lipophilic fraction, winter savory possesses significant bioactive components in its content which are hydrophilic in character, such as phenolic acids [2]. It was determined that the most dominant components of winter savory, isomers carvacrol and thymol, exhibit numerous beneficial biological activities, such as antioxidative, antimicrobial, diuretic, anti-HIV-1, antidiarrheal, and antiproliferative activities [3,4,5,6,7,8]. The biological activity of herbal products is attributed to its most dominant components. The effect of the herbal products due to the synergy of all the components present in the plant can be more significant than the Plants 2020, 9, 1532; doi:10.3390/plants9111532 www.mdpi.com/journal/plants

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