PG & Research Department of Chemistry, Mar Ivanios College (Autonomous), Thiruvananthapuram 695015, Kerala, India.
Cell Biochem Biophys. 2023 Jun;81(2):189-203. doi: 10.1007/s12013-023-01138-z. Epub 2023 Apr 22.
Cancer is a complex genetic disorder due to uncontrolled growth of abnormal cells in the body, causes damage to the immune system, and may lead to life-threatening situations. Common approaches to cancer treatment includes chemotherapy, hormone therapy, immunotherapy, radiation therapy etc. Development of novel and natural chemotherapeutic agents is highly demanded because of the side effects of synthetic drugs. Essential oils from aromatic plants exhibited antioxidant, antimutagenic, antiproliferative and immunomodulating activities. Mechanism of multidrug resistance and synergistic action of these volatile constituents are responsible for their chemopreventive properties. These oils primarily comprising of terpenoid constituents and are characterized by volatility, aroma, low molecular weight etc. The chemical composition of these oils varies depending on the environmental condition, species, plant part and geographical region. Literature analysis revealed that plant essential oils play an important role in cancer prevention and treatment. Cancer patients exposed to essential oils via inhaler devices were found to have less anxiety, stress, and nausea and insomnia. Nowadays, there is an increasing demand for investigating the biological properties of aromatic plants due to their availability, chemical diversity, and low toxicity. In aromatherapy, Citrus essential oils repress cancer related pain and enhance immune system. Current review summarizes existing variability of the chemical composition of Citrus essential oils and its molecular level anticancer mechanism against various human cancer cell lines. Citrus essential oils enhance cytotoxicity, antiproliferative and apoptotic behavior of cancer cell lines. Since essential oils exhibiting significant anticancer potential is worthy of further investigation for cancer chemoprevention. The findings of various research activities can be exploited by cancer researchers world wide for the development of anticancer drugs which can relieve cancer symptoms.
癌症是一种复杂的遗传疾病，由于体内异常细胞的不受控制的生长，导致免疫系统受损，并可能导致危及生命的情况。癌症治疗的常见方法包括化疗、激素治疗、免疫治疗、放射治疗等。由于合成药物的副作用，因此非常需要开发新型天然化疗药物。芳香植物的精油具有抗氧化、抗突变、抗增殖和免疫调节作用。这些挥发性成分的多药耐药机制和协同作用是其化学预防特性的原因。这些油主要由萜烯类成分组成，其特点是挥发性、香气、低分子量等。这些油的化学成分因环境条件、物种、植物部位和地理位置的不同而有所不同。文献分析表明，植物精油在癌症的预防和治疗中起着重要作用。通过吸入装置接触精油的癌症患者焦虑、压力、恶心和失眠症状较少。由于芳香植物的可用性、化学多样性和低毒性，如今对其生物特性的研究需求日益增加。在芳香疗法中，柑橘精油可以抑制与癌症相关的疼痛并增强免疫系统。目前的综述总结了柑橘精油的化学成分及其对各种人类癌细胞系的分子水平抗癌机制的现有可变性。柑橘精油增强了癌细胞系的细胞毒性、抗增殖和凋亡行为。由于具有显著抗癌潜力的精油值得进一步研究用于癌症化学预防。世界各地的癌症研究人员可以利用各种研究活动的发现，开发可以缓解癌症症状的抗癌药物。
