Cytotoxic activity of essential oil from Leaves of Myrcia splendens against A549 Lung Cancer cells

• Published in: BMC complementary and alternative medicine Vol. 23; no. 1; p. 139
• Main Authors: Montalvão, Monalisa Martins, Felix, Franciel Batista, Propheta Dos Santos, Edmilson William, Santos, Jileno Ferreira, de Lucca Júnior, Waldecy, Farias, Atenilton Santos, de Souza Ribeiro, Adauto, Cavaleiro, Carlos, Machado, Samísia Maria Fernandes, Scher, Ricardo, Corrêa, Cristiane Bani
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England BioMed Central Ltd 02-05-2023; BioMed Central; BMC
• Subjects: A549 Cells; Analysis; Antibiotics; Antineoplastic Agents - pharmacology; Apoptosis; Assaying; Bicyclogermacrene; Biological analysis; Cancer cells; Cancer therapies; Caryophyllene; Cell migration; Cell viability; Chemical analysis; Chromatography; Clonogenic assay; Colonies; Computer industry; Cytoplasm; Cytotoxicity; Essential oil; Essential oils; Flowers & plants; Gas chromatography; Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry; Germacrene; Humans; Leaves; Lung cancer; Lung Neoplasms - drug therapy; Mass spectrometry; Mass spectroscopy; Myrcia splendens; Myrtaceae; Oils & fats; Oils, Volatile - chemistry; Oils, Volatile - pharmacology; Penicillin; Phalloidin; Plant cells; Software; Spectrum analysis; Tumor cell lines; Tumor cells; Tumors; Wound healing; Brazil; United States; United States > US; Clonogenic assay; Cytotoxicity; Essential oil; Myrcia splendens; Cell migration; Apoptosis
• ISSN: 2662-7671; 2662-7671; 1472-6882
• DOI: 10.1186/s12906-023-03969-y

Plants of the Myrcia genus have been widely used in folk medicine to treat various diseases, including cancer. Myrcia splendens species has a diverse chemical constitution, but the biological activities of its essential oil have not been well investigated. In this study to out the chemistry characterization of essential oil (EO) from the leaves of the species M. splendens from Brazil and evaluate cytotoxic effect in A549 lung cancer cells.
M. splendens EO was obtained by hydrodistillation and analyzed by Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS). EO was isolated and evaluated for cellular viability in tumor cell lines by MTT assay. The evaluation of the formation of clones and the migratory capacity of the A549 cells treated with EO was done by the clonogenic assay and the wound healing assay. Morphological changes were observed in A549 cells by fluorescence using Phalloidin/FITC and DAPI.
22 compounds were identified in the chemical analysis of EO, corresponding to 88% of the sample. Major compounds were the sesquiterpenic hydrocarbons bicyclogermacrene (15.4%), germacrene D (8.9%) and E-caryophyllene (10.1%). The biological analysis of the EO showed high cytotoxic activity with an IC
below 20 µg/ml in the THP-1, A549 and B16-F10 tumor cells. The treatment with EO reduced colony formation and inhibited the migratory capacity of A549 cells. Furthermore, apoptotic morphological changes in the nucleus and cytoplasm of A549 cells was observed after of treatment with EO.
The findings of this study suggest that the M. splendens EO has cytotoxic compounds for the A549 lung cancer cells. Treatment with the EO decreased the colony formation and reduced the ability of lung cancer cells to migrate. Future studies may be used to isolate compounds from the EO for the study of lung cancer.