In vitro Evaluation of Massoia Bark Essential Oil and C-10 Massoialactone Potency as Immunomodulator

Abstract

Massoia aromatica Becc (Lauraceae) bark essential oil has been widely used as part of traditional healing remedy in Indonesia. The major constituent, C-10 Massoia lactone has been reported previously as the antimicrobial principle. However, its effect on the immune response has not been reported so far. This research was aimed to find out the immunomodulatory effects of the Massoia essential oil and the C-10 Massoia lactone against Candida albicans as well as to explore the potential toxicities against Vero and primary culture of fibroblast cells. Material and methods: The essential oil was obtained by a steam-hydrodistillation method. The C-10 Massoia lactone was isolated from the essential oil by a preparative chromatography. Cytotoxicity assays were done on Vero and primary culture of fibroblast cells by using the MTT assay. The immunological assay were performed in vitro on lymphocytes and macrophages taken from Sprague-Dawley mice. The concentration range of samples were 30 - 2.5 μg/mL and done in triplicate. ANOVA followed by the Tukey-HSD (honestly significance diffirence) was used for the statistical analysis. All sample showed significant activation of the macrophage phagocytosis both on latex and Candida albicans in a concentration dependant manner. IC50s of the C-10 Massoia lactone and the essential oil on primary culture of fibroblast were 11.29 and 26.07 μg/ml, respectively, while on Vero cells were found at 28.35 and 37.34 μg/ml, respectively. All samples exhibited no effect on lymphocyte cell proliferation.