Evaluation of cytotoxicity, cell cycle arrest and apoptosis induced by Anethum graveolens L. essential oil in human hepatocellular carcinoma cell line

Abstract

<i>Anethum graveolens</i> L. (<i>A. graveolens</i>) commonly known as <i>dill</i>, is an essential oil bearing plant extensively being used in traditional system of medicine. However, the reports on the components and biological responses of <i>A. graveolens</i> essential oil (AG-EO) from Saudi Arabia are scarce. The present study was designed to explore the presence of basic constituents and apoptosis induced by AG-EO in HepG2 cells. The constituents in AG-EO was analyzed by Gas chromatography-Mass spectroscopy (GC-MS). Cytotoxicity of AG-EO was measured by MTT assay and cell cycle arrest and apoptosis assays were conducted by using flow cytometer. Based on GC-MS analysis, the main constituents present in AG-EO were carvone (53.130%), dillapole (25.420%), dihydrocarvone 2 (11.350%) and dihydrocarvone 1 (6.260%). A few other minor components were also identified <i>viz. cis</i>-dihydrocarveol (0.690%), limonene (0.580%), isodihydrocarveol (0.370%), myristicin (0.210%) and <i>cis</i>-arsone (0.190%). The cytotoxicity results showed that AG-EO decrease the cell viability and inhibit the cell growth of HepG2 cells in a concentration-dependent manner. The inhibitory activity of AG-EO was found with IC₅₀ = 59.6 <i>±</i> 5.64. The cell cycle arrest results showed that HepG2 cells exposed to AG-EO exhibited an increase in G2/M and pre-G1 cell population after 24 h exposure. Furthermore, the flow cytometry data revealed the primarily activation of cell death by apoptosis manners in HepG2 cells exposed to AG-EO. Overall, results from this study highlighted the anticancer potential of AG-EO, which could be considered as a new agent for the management of hepatocellular carcinoma.