Essential Oils from Côa Valley Lamiaceae Species: Cytotoxicity and Antiproliferative Effect on Glioblastoma Cells

Abstract

Lavandula pedunculata (Mill.) Cav., Mentha cervina L. and Thymus mastichina (L.) L. subsp. mastichina are representative species of the Côa Valley’s flora, a Portuguese UNESCO World Heritage Site. L. pedunculata and T. mastichina are traditionally used to preserve olives and to aromatize bonfires on Saint John’s Eve, while M. cervina is mainly used as a spice for river fish dishes. Despite their traditional uses, these aromatic plants are still undervalued, and literature regarding their bioactivity, especially anticancer, is scarce. In this work, the morphology of secretory structures was assessed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and the composition of essential oils (EOs) was characterized by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The study proceeded with cytotoxic evaluation of EOs in tumor and non-tumor cells with the cell death mechanism explored in glioblastoma (GB) cells. L. pedunculata EO presented the most pronounced cytotoxic/antiproliferative activity against tumor cells, with moderate cytotoxicity against non-tumor cells. Whereas, M. cervina EO exhibited a slightly lower cytotoxic effect against tumor cells and did not affect the viability of non-tumor cells. Meanwhile, T. mastichina EO did not induce a strong cytotoxic effect against GB cells. L. pedunculata and M. cervina EOs lead to cell death by inducing apoptosis in a dose-dependent manner. The present study suggests that L. pedunculata and M. cervina EOs have a strong cytotoxic and antiproliferative potential to be further studied as efficient antitumor agents.

Design and Parameterization of a Computational Model Based on Convolutional Neural Networks for Mango Selection

“…On the other hand, Chen-yu et al used glyceryl monostearate, stearic acid, and medium-chain triglycerides to prepare NLC for topical administration in rats with ear edema. The results showed a suppression of edema in the animals [126]. Speaking a bit about cancer, in a study by Sun et al, it was possible to induce apoptosis of MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells using NLC composed of 2.7% quercetin, 9.4% soy lecithin, 23.6% Glycerol 1,3-dido-decanoate 2-decanoate, 6.7% glyceryl tripalmi-tate, 13.4% vitamin E acetate and 44.2% Kolliphor® HS 15 [127].…”

Chemical composition and biological activities of essential oils in the family Lamiaceae

“…al. [21], L. pedunculata has potential as an alternative antiproliferative tumor agent, namely the results of observations found cytotoxic activity against glioblastoma cells. The main chemical components that play a role in this antitumor activity are camphore, 1,8-cineole and a-pinene.…”

“…Mentha servina is also one of the plants of the Lamiaceae family that has essential oils that are useful in the health sector, namely as antitumor, Mentha servina has the potential as an efficient antitumor against glioblastoma cells. The chemical content of Mentha servina that has activity as an antitumor is pulegone and germacrene [21].…”

Chemical Composition, In Vitro Antitumor Effect, and Toxicity in Zebrafish of the Essential Oil from Conyza bonariensis (L.) Cronquist (Asteraceae)

“…Natural products or their derivatives represent more than 60% of the molecules used for cancer treatment [6]. In this context, essential oils (EOs) have been widely investigated for their pharmacological effects, including antimicrobial [7,8], anti-inflammatory [9], and antitumor effects [10][11][12][13][14][15]. EOs are aromatic oily liquids obtained from many parts of plants such as flowers, seeds, leaves, twigs, and roots.…”