In vitro antimetastatic activity of Agarwood (Aquilaria crassna) essential oils against pancreatic cancer cells

Abstract

Background: Pancreatic cancer is one of the most lethal malignant tumors which remains a rampant killer across the globe. Lack of early diagnosis and toxic drugs have failed to improve the survival rate of pancreatic cancer patients, thus new agents that are safe, available and effective are urgently needed. Objective: The study aimed to investigate the efficacy of Agarwood essential oils in the inhibition of metastasis and induction of apoptosis in the pancreatic cell line (MIA PaCa-2). Methods: Essential oils of Aquilaria crassna were obtained by hydrodistillation. Chemical characterization was analyzed using FTIR and GCMS. The effects of essential oils against three steps of metastases have been investigated, including cell proliferation, migration and clonogenicity. Hoechst and rhodamine assays confirmed the mechanism of pancreatic cancer cell death. Results: The results showed that essential oils exhibited potent cytotoxic activity against MIA PaCa-2 cells with an IC 50 (11 ± 2.18 lg/ml). Cell migration was effectively inhibited at (10 lg/ml). Moreover, at a sub-toxic dose (5 lg/mL), essential oils obstructed the colony formation properties of MIA PaCa-2 significantly. The mechanism of cell death was determined due to the

Aquilaria spp. (agarwood) as source of health beneficial compounds: A review of traditional use, phytochemistry and pharmacology

“…This ethnopharmacological evidence, together with the current trends in bioprospecting, have spurred the interest of the scientific community to investigate claims using modern tools. This is manifested in the surge of the number of scientific publications in recent years, particularly those describing the pharmacological actions of agarwood, including the antidiabetic Jiang and Tu, 2011;Pranakhon et al, 2015;Zulkiflie et al, 2013), anti-inflammatory (Chitre et al, 2007;Kumphune et al, 2011;Rahman et al, 2012;Sattayasai et al, 2012;Zhou et al, 2008), anti-cancer (Dahham et al, 2014;Dahham, 2015a;Gunasekera et al, 1981;Hashim et al, 2014a), anti-depressant (Okugawa et al, 1993;Takemoto et al, 2008), and anti-oxidant (Dahham et al, 2014;Han and Li, 2012;Huda et al, 2009;Kamonwannasit et al, 2013;Miniyar et al, 2008;Moosa, 2010;Nik Wil et al, 2014;Owen and Jones, 2002;Ray et al, 2014;Sattayasai et al, 2012;Tay et al, 2014) Trees, 1998)). In response to this situation, sustainable agarwood planting and management with artificial induction of agarwood resin formation have been implemented.…”

Population and ecological study of agarwood producing tree (Gyrinops versteegii) in Manggarai District, Flores Island, Indonesia

“…The products of agarwood are generally exported in the form of chunks of wood, debris, powder or aloes oil to Arabian countries, Singapore and China (Zich and Compton 2001;Turjaman and Hidayat 2017;Mohamed 2016). As traditional medicine, agarwoods were investigated farmacologically and were found as a central nerve deppresant (Okugawa et al 1993), anticancer (Hashim et al 2014;Dahham et al 2016), digestive medicine (Kakino et al 2010), and antioxidant (Huda et al 2009).…”

Composition variation of agarwood-associated microbial communities from Aquilaria sinensis

“…Traditional use was complementally recorded in Bencao Gangmu in the Ming Dynasties. Recently, many chemical ingredients of agarwood have revealed significant anticancer (5) and anti-inflammatory activities (6). Moreover, agarwood has been used as incense for centuries in Buddhist, Hindi, and Islamic ceremonies (4).…”