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Eucalyptus L. is traditionally used for many medicinal purposes. In particular, some Eucalyptus species have currently shown cytotoxic properties. Local Brazilian communities have used leaves of E. benthamii as a herbal remedy for various diseases, including cancer. Considering the lack of available data for supporting this cytotoxic effect, the goal of this paper was to study the in vitro cytotoxic potential of the essential oils from young and adult leaves of E. benthamii and some related terpenes (α-pinene, terpinen-4-ol, and γ-terpinene) on Jurkat, J774A.1 and HeLa cells lines. Regarding the cytotoxic activity based on MTT assay, the essential oils showed improved results than α-pinene and γ-terpinene, particularly for Jurkat and HeLa cell lines. Terpinen-4-ol revealed a cytotoxic effect against Jurkat cells similar to that observed for volatile oils. The results of LDH activity indicated that cytotoxic activity of samples against Jurkat cells probably involved cell death by apoptosis. The decrease of cell DNA content was demonstrated due to inhibition of Jurkat cells proliferation by samples as a result of cytotoxicity. In general, the essential oils from young and adult leaves of E. benthamii presented cytotoxicity against the investigated tumor cell lines which confirms their antitumor potential.

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