TITLE:
The Aromatic Plant Satureja horvatii ssp. macrophylla Induces Apoptosis and Cell Death to the A549 Cancer Cell Line
AUTHORS:
Paraskevi Yfanti, Anna Batistatou, Georgios Manos, Marilena E. Lekka
KEYWORDS:
Satureja horvatii spp. macrophylla, Apoptosis, Cytotoxicity, A549, GC/MS
JOURNAL NAME:
American Journal of Plant Sciences,
Vol.6 No.13,
August
27,
2015
ABSTRACT: S. horvatii ssp. macrophylla (Lamiaceae) is an endemic aromatic plant of Greece and is used as a culinary herb. In the present study we explored its possible anticancer activity through the induction of apoptosis on cancer cells using A549 cell line as a model. The cytotoxic effects and the type of cell death (apoptosis/necrosis) were evaluated with biochemical and morphological criteria. The total methanol extract of S. horvatii ssp. macrophylla revealed forty two components, of which carvacrol was the major constituent (43.2%). Only a minor portion of them (3.41%) was contained in the active working plant extract solution which was used for cell treatment. This study indicates that extract of S. horvatii spp. macrophylla, which belongs to carvacrol chemotype, can induce both apoptosis and necrosis to A549 cancer cell line.