- Effect of a chemotype of Lippia alba from Costa Rica on cellular growth and lipid metabolism

MONTERO VILLEGAS S; CICCIO ALBERTI JF; CORTES BRATTI X; CRESPO R; POLO M; GARCIA DE BRAVO M

San Miguel de Tucuman

Congreso; XLV Reunión Anual de SAIB; 2009

Sociedad Argentina de Investigacion en Bioquimica y Biologia Molecular

Lippia alba (Miller) N.E. Brown (Verbenaceae) is a widely spread shrub used in traditional medicine. L. alba essential oil (EO) has a great chemical variability related to the geographical origin. In Costa Rica a chemotype presenting mainly ocimenone, mircenone, 1,8-cineol and mircene, was identified. Monoterpenes in EOs show chemotherapeutic activities and may represent anti-cancer drugs. We studied the effects of this L. alba chemotype EO on the cell growth and lipid metabolism of pulmonary adenocarcinoma A549 cells. Cellular viability was analyzed by MTT test (IC50=130 ìg/ml) and trypan-blue-dye-exclusion cell count, [50 ìg/ml] of EO inhibited cell proliferation by 35%. Lipid extraction was made from cells incubated with [50ìg/ml] EO and 14C-acetate (5ìCi). The incorporation of 14C-acetate into total lipids, nonsaponifiable lipids and fatty acid fraction was determined; a decrease of radioactivity was found in treated cells. Cholesterol and its precursors were separated using TLC. 14C-acetate incorporated into cholesterol was decreased and the incorporation into dolichol and ubiquinone was increased. Fatty acids were separated by AgNO3-TLC, observing a change in the unsaturated/saturated ratio (30%/70%) in treated cells. We concluded that L. alba EO has a cytotoxic effect on A549 cell line and that this may be related with the effects on lipid metabolism of these tumoral cells