Mechanism of the antiproliferative action of limonene on a lymphoma cell line: Participation of nitric oxide

MARIA GABRIELA MANUELE; MARIA LAURA BARREIRO ARCOS; ROBERTO DAVICINO; GRACIELA FERRARO; GRACIELA CREMASCHI; CLAUDIA ANESINI

PHYTOTHERAPY RESEARCH

Willey and Blackwell

Lugar: Reino Unido; Año: 2008 vol. 22

0951-418X

Limonene is a non-nutritional dietary monoterpene, that possesses chemopreventive activity and antitumoral effects. A previous study identified limonene, present in a Tilia x viridis extract, as an active compound with antiproliferative action on a lymphoma cell line (BW5147). The objective of this study was to investigate the mechanism of the antiproliferative action of limonene on a murine lymphoma (BW 5147). As the induction of apoptosis and arrest in cell cycle phases are both related to nitric oxide (NO) production and constitute the most common mechanism of action of natural drugs which exert antiproliferative action, these two phenomena and the subsequent effect on NO production was analyzed. Results showed that limonene exhibited antiproliferative action on tumoral lymphocytes exerting a decrease in cell viability that was related to apoptosis induction and to the increase in NO levels at long times of incubation. However, at short times and depending on its concentration, limonene arrested cells in different phases of the cell cycle, an effect which is also known to be related to NO production.   Key words: Limonene, lymphoma cell line, NO, cell cycle