In vitro Antiproliferative and Antidermatophyte Activities of Essential Oils from Three Moroccan Medicinal Plants

Abstract

The main of this study is to evaluate the anticancer and anti-dermatophyte activities of Mentha pulegium, Rosmarinus officinalis and Lavandula stoechas essential oils. The cytotoxic effect was carried out on cancer cell lines Vero, L20B and RD using MTT colorimetric assay. The anti-dermatophyte activity was tested on Trichophyton violaceum, Trichophyton tonsurans and Trichophyton mentagrophytes using direct contact method. Essential oils of three aromatic species are rich in bioactive compounds such oxygenated and no-oxygenated monoterpenes. Lavandula stoechas essential oil showed interesting anticancer activity against RD (IC50 =19.03±28.05% (v/v)) and L20B (IC50 =33.84±1.72% (v/v)). Moreover, M. pulegium essential oil had an important cytotoxic effect against Vero cell line (IC50 =60.21±1.9% (v/v)). The best pharmacological selectivity indexes were obtained with L. stoechas essential oil on RD (11.098) and L20B (6.241) cell lines. The essential oil of R. officinalis showed remarkable anti-dermatophyte effects than L. stoechas and P. pulegium. The IC50 values of R. Officinalis essential oil against T. mentagrophytes, T. violaecum and T. tonsurans were respectively 0.53, 0.60 and 0.64% (v/v). The findings of these results showed that essential oils of L. stoechas and M. pulegium are a good source for anticancer drug discovery and the essential oil of R. officinalis is a promising source as anti-dermatophyte agents. Whereas, further studies investigating the pharmacological properties on other type of cancer cell lines and fungal species are necessary. Moreover, investigations regarding the mechanism of action of these oils and their major compounds are also necessary.