Department of Surgery, Toho University Ohashi Medical Center, Tokyo, Japan.
Department of Narita Pharmaceutical Sciences, International University of Health and Welfare, Chiba, Japan.
BMC Complement Med Ther. 2024 Jun 3;24(1):211. doi: 10.1186/s12906-024-04511-4.
Although cancer therapy suppresses recurrence and prolongs life, it may be accompanied by strong side effects; thus, there is a strong demand for the development effective treatments with fewer side effects. Cancer therapy using plant-derived essential oils is attracting attention as one promising method. This study investigated the antitumor effects of essential oil volatiles on breast cancer cells and identifies four essential oils that display antitumor activity.
Breast cancer cells were cultured in a 96-well plate, then one of twenty essential oils was added dropwise to the central well. The plate was incubated at 37 °C for 48 h and the effect of the volatile components of each essential oil on the surrounding breast cancer cell growth ability was examined using an MTT assay. Gas chromatography was used to investigate the concentration of the transpiration components that may affect cancer cells.
Of the 20 essential oils, Lemongrass, Lemon myrtle, Litsea, and Melissa displayed strong anti-tumor effects. These essential oils inhibited the growth of nearby breast cancer cells, even when diluted more than 500-fold. The transpiration component of lemon Myrtle showed the strongest antitumor effect, but was the least cytotoxic to mononuclear cells in normal peripheral blood (PBMC). Each of these essential oils contained a very large amount of citral. The IC against breast cancer cells when citral was volatilized from each essential oil was 1.67 µL/mL for geranial and 1.31 µL/mL for neral. Volatilized citral alone showed strong anti-proliferation and infiltration-inhibiting effects.
The transpiration components of Lemongrass, Lemon myrtle, Litsea, and Melissa are thought to inhibit breast cancer cell proliferation due to their high levels of citral.
虽然癌症治疗可以抑制复发并延长生命，但它可能伴随着强烈的副作用；因此，人们强烈需要开发副作用更少的有效治疗方法。使用植物源性精油进行癌症治疗作为一种很有前途的方法引起了关注。本研究调查了精油挥发物对乳腺癌细胞的抗肿瘤作用，并确定了四种具有抗肿瘤活性的精油。
将乳腺癌细胞在 96 孔板中培养，然后将 20 种精油中的一种滴加到中央孔中。将平板在 37°C 下孵育 48 小时，并用 MTT assay 检查每种精油的挥发性成分对周围乳腺癌细胞生长能力的影响。使用气相色谱法研究可能影响癌细胞的蒸腾成分的浓度。
在 20 种精油中，柠檬草、柠檬香桃木、檫木和香蜂草显示出很强的抗肿瘤作用。这些精油抑制了附近乳腺癌细胞的生长，即使稀释超过 500 倍。柠檬香桃木的蒸腾成分显示出最强的抗肿瘤作用，但对正常外周血单核细胞（PBMC）的细胞毒性最小。这些精油都含有大量的柠檬醛。当柠檬醛从每种精油中挥发时，对乳腺癌细胞的 IC 为柠檬醛的 1.67µL/mL 和橙醛的 1.31µL/mL。单独挥发的柠檬醛显示出强烈的抗增殖和浸润抑制作用。
柠檬草、柠檬香桃木、檫木和香蜂草的蒸腾成分由于其高含量的柠檬醛，被认为可抑制乳腺癌细胞增殖。
