In Vitro Anticancer and Antibacterial Activities of the Essential Oil of Forsskal's Basil Growing in Extreme Environmental Conditions

• Published in: Life (Basel, Switzerland) Switzerland), 2023-02, Vol.13 (3), p.651
• Main Authors: Bader, Ammar, Abdalla, Ashraf N, Obaid, Najla A, Youssef, Lamees, Naffadi, Hind M, Elzubier, Mohamed E, Almaimani, Riyad A, Flamini, Guido, Pieracci, Ylenia, El-Readi, Mahmoud Zaki
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: AKT protein; Antibacterial activity; Antibacterial agents; Anticancer properties; Antimicrobial agents; Antimitotic agents; Antineoplastic agents; Apoptosis; Bacteria; Basil; Cancer; Cancer therapies; Care and treatment; Caryophyllene; Caspase-3; Cell cycle; Cell division; Cell growth; Cell proliferation; Chemical properties; Chromatography; Coliforms; Colonies; Comparative analysis; Cyclin D1; Cytotoxicity; E coli; Environmental conditions; Environmental quality; Essences and essential oils; essential oil; Essential oils; Eugenol; Extreme environments; Flowering; GC-MS; Germacrene; Gram-negative bacteria; Gram-positive bacteria; HCT116 cancer cell line; Health aspects; Instrument industry; Klebsiella; Linalool; Mass spectrometry; Medicinal plants; Metabolites; Methyl eugenol; Ocimum; Ocimum forsskaolii; Ocimum forskolei; Oils & fats; Pharmaceutical research; Phenylpropanoids; Proteins; Scientific imaging; Sesquiterpenes; Staphylococcus aureus infections; Western blotting
• ISSN: 2075-1729; 2075-1729
• DOI: 10.3390/life13030651

Many species belonging to the genus are used for aromatic, medicinal, and cosmetic purposes. The essential oil (OFEO) obtained by hydrodistillation of the flowering aerial parts of Forsskal's Basil " Benth" growing in extreme environmental conditions in Mecca Region, Saudi Arabia was analyzed by GC-MS. The main constituents were phenylpropanoids (methyl eugenol 55.65% and eugenol 11.66%), monoterpene (linalool 9.75%), and sesquiterpenes (germacrene D 3.72% and β-caryophyllene 2.57%). The OFEO was tested against MCF7, HT29, and HCT116 cancer cells and compared with normal fibroblast cells (MRC5). The MTT assay showed that HCT116 was more sensitive to OFEO (IC50 5.34 μg/mL), which reduced the number of HCT116 colonies at 6 μg/mL, while causing complete colony death at 12 and 24 μg/mL. Western Blotting and qRT-PCR were used to evaluate the level change of different proteins with respect to GAPDH. OFEO upregulated the apoptotic protein (caspase 3), and downregulated the cell proliferation proteins (AKT and pAKT), cell cycle arrest (PCNA, Cyclin D1), and the anti-apoptotic Bcl2 proteins. OFEO was also tested against reference strains of Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria including , , , and by using the well-diffusion and assessing their MICs, which ranged from 250 to 500 μg/mL.