Extra Virgin Olive Oil Secoiridoids Modulate the Metabolic Activity of Dacarbazine Pre-Treated and Treatment-Naive Melanoma Cells

• Published in: Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) Switzerland), 2022-05, Vol.27 (10), p.3310
• Main Authors: Kugić, Azra, Dabelić, Sanja, Brala, Cvijeta Jakobušić, Dabelić, Nina, Barbarić, Monika
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Antitumor activity; Biological activity; Cancer therapies; Chromatography; Coronaviruses; Cosmetics; COVID-19; Cultivars; Dacarbazine; Disease; Flavonoids; Gene expression; High-performance liquid chromatography; Humans; Immunotherapy; Iridoids - pharmacology; Liquid chromatography; Medical screening; Melanoma; Melanoma - drug therapy; melanoma cells; Metabolism; Metastases; Metastasis; Natural products; NMR; Nuclear magnetic resonance; Nutrition; oleacein; oleocanthal; Olive oil; Olive Oil - chemistry; Pandemics; Phenolic compounds; Phenols; Plant Oils - chemistry; Plant Oils - pharmacology; Polyphenols; secoiridoids; Skin cancer; Spectroscopy; Spectrum analysis; Well being
• ISSN: 1420-3049; 1420-3049
• DOI: 10.3390/molecules27103310

Nowadays, many individuals, whether healthy or diagnosed with disease, tend to expose themselves to various easily accessible natural products in hopes of benefiting their health and well-being. Mediterranean populations have traditionally used olive oil not only in nutrition but also in cosmetics, including skincare. In this study, the phenolic profile-composed of twelve compounds altogether, including the secoiridoids oleocanthal (OCAL) and oleacein (OCEIN)-of extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) from autochthonous cultivars from Croatia was determined using H qNMR spectroscopy and HPLC-DAD analysis, and its biological activity was investigated in melanoma cell lines. The EVOO with the highest OCEIN content had the strongest anti-cancer activity in A375 melanoma cells and the least toxic effect on the non-cancerous keratocyte cell line (HaCaT). On the other hand, pure OCAL was shown to be more effective and safer than pure OCEIN. Post-treatment with any of the EVOO phenolic extracts (EVOO-PEs) enhanced the anti-cancer effect of the anti-cancerous drug dacarbazine (DTIC) applied in pre-treatment, while they did not compromise the viability of non-cancerous cells. The metastatic melanoma A375M cell line was almost unresponsive to the EVOO-PEs themselves, as well as to pure OCEIN and OCAL. Our results demonstrate that olive oils and/or their compounds may have a potentially beneficial effect on melanoma treatment. However, their usage can be detrimental or futile, especially in healthy cells, due to inadequately applied concentrations/combinations or the presence of resistant cells.