Planta Med 2013; 79 - PJ28
DOI: 10.1055/s-0033-1352232

Essential oil of Myrica rubra Sieb. et Zucc. inhibits proliferation of HCT-8 tumor cell lines

L Langhansova 1, V Hanusova 2, J Rezek 1, JD Lou 3, T Vanek 1
  • 1Institute of Experimental Botany AS CR, Laboratory of Plant Biotechnologies, Rozvojová 313, Prague 6 CZ-165 02 Czech Republic
  • 2Charles University in Prague, Faculty of Pharmacy, Department of Biochemical Sciences, Heyrovského 1203, Hradec Králové CZ-500 05 Czech Republic
  • 3China Jiliang University, College of Life Sciences, Hangzhou, 310018, Zhejiang, China

Natural sources are being explored for their potential to combat severe side effects caused by increasing resistance of mammalian tumor cells to chemotherapy. The widespread use of Myrica rubra Sieb. et Zucc. in traditional medicine motivated us to study its potential anticancer activity. In Chinese, Japanese and Taiwan traditional medicine, M. rubra is used as an astringent, antidiarrheic, analgesics and an antidote.

We aimed to investigate the activity of M. rubra essential oil extracted by hydrodistilation and of leaves extracted separately in distilled water, ethanol, ethyl acetate, and terc-butyl-methylether. Together with the oil and leave extracts, we tested particular phenolic compounds previously reported for their biological activity, such as myricetin, myricitrin, and epigallocatechin 3-O-gallate presented in M. rubra leaves. Antiproliferative activity was monitored by xCELLigence Real Time Cell Analyzer against Human ileocecal adenocarcinoma cell lines HCT-8. GC × GC/MS analyses were performed to detect terpenoid compounds in the essential oil.

Fig. 1: Antiproliferative activity of M. rubra leaves against HCT-8 tumor cell lines monitored by xCELLigence Real Time Cell Analyzer. Extracts and essential oil were tested at concentration 50 µg/ml, phenolic compounds at concentration 5µM. A solvent Dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO) was applied as a negative control. (H2O – aqueous extract, EtOH – ethanol extract. EtOAc – ethyl acetate extract, TBM – terc-butyl-methylether extract. E oil – essential oil, EGCG – (-)-Epigallocatechin gallate)

Antiproliferative tests reveal significantly higher activity of essential oil compared to leave extracts and particular phenolic compounds (see Figure). Subsequently we tested the oil in different concentrations and found 91.46% inhibition at concentration of 10 µg*ml-1. Furthermore, the essential oil shows no toxicity to hepatic cells. GC × GC/MS analysis proves the presence of β-Caryophyllene, and α-Humulene as major compounds in M. rubra oil. Both were previously reported as potential anticancer agents. In conclusion, our results indicate that terpenoids possess stronger inhibition to tumor cells compared to phenolic compounds. Our further investigation of M. rubra essential oil can reveal new compounds with potential anticancer activity.

This work was supported by KONTAKT LH12165 project granted by Ministry of Education, Youth, and Sports of the Czech Republic.