Antioxidant and antitumoral potential of terpenes and phenylpropanoids against MCF7, A549 and HT144 cancer cell lines

Abstract

Essential oils are a complex mixture of terpenes and phenylpropanoids that have several biological activities, including antioxidant and antitumoral activities. The present study sought to evaluate the antioxidant potential of monoterpenes and phenylpropanoids by different methods (stabilization of free radicals, inhibition of lipid peroxidation, and complexation of metals). In addition, the antitumor potentials of these compounds were evaluated on human estrogen-positive breast cancer (MCF-7), non-small cell lung cancer (A-549), and melanoma cancer (HT-144) cell lines. Cisplatin (6 µg mL-1) was used as a positive control. The cell viability was studied and the quantification of DNA was performed. The antioxidant activity results were analyzed by linear regression and antitumor activity were analyzed via analysis of variance and the Dunnett test. A greater antioxidant activity was observed for the phenolic compounds carvacrol, thymol and eugenol than for the standards (BHT, mannitol and ascorbic acid) by the methods tested. A dose-response effect was observed for the less active compounds, revealing the influence of the concentration of the constituents. Carvacrol displayed an important cytotoxic activity against the estrogen-positive MCF-7 cell line, and citral was more active against A549 cells and HT144 melanoma cells. The positive control Cisplatin showed low cell viability over the A549 and HT44 cells, and showed high cell viability over the MCF-7 cell. The antitumor activity of citral observed against HT144 cells is associated with its ability to promote the cell cycle at the G1/S transition, at least in part.