Cytotoxicity of the essential oils from Tajikistan plants against HeLa cells

The study was aimed to evaluate the anticancer activity of the essential oils from selected aromatic plants growing wild in Tajikistan against HeLa cells. The essential oils of Anethum graveolens (AG), Foeniculum vulgare (FV), Galagania fragrantissima (GF) (Apiaceae), Achillea filipendulina (AF), Artemisia absinthium (AAb), Artemisia annua (AAn), Artemisia rutifolia (AR), Artemisia scoparia (AS) (Asteraceae), Hypericum perforatum (HP) (Clusiaceae) and Hyssopus seravschanicus (HS), Melissa officinalis (MO), Mentha longifolia (ML), Origanum tyttanthum (OT), Salvia sclarea (SS), and Ziziphora clinopodioides (ZC) (Lamiaceae) have been obtained from fresh plant material by hydrodistillation. The cytotoxicity of the essential oils was determined using the MTT assay. IC₅₀ values of cytotoxicity ranged between 0.09 and 0.96 mg/ml (Table 1). Their activity was in descending order: AG > AAb > AAn > FV > GF > HP > MO > OT > ML > ZC > SS > AS > AR > AF > HS. The essential oil of Anethum graveolens L. exhibited the strongest effect with an IC₅₀ of 0.09 mg ml^-1, while the weakest effect was noted for the essential oil of Hyssopus seravschanicus (IC₅₀ 0.96 mg ml^-1).

Tab. 1: Cytotoxicity of essential oils from Tajikistan plants against HeLa cells

Plants		IC 50, mg/ml	Plants		IC 50, mg/ml
Species	Family		Species	Family
Anethum graveolens L.	Apiaceae	0.09	Hypericum perforatum L.	Clusiaceae	0.22
Foeniculum vulgare Mill.	Apiaceae	0.12	Hyssopus seravschanicus Pazij	Lamiaceae	0.96
Galagania fragrantissima Lipsky	Apiaceae	0.21	Melissa officinalis L.	Lamiaceae	0.29
Achillea filipendulina Lam.	Asteraceae	0.92	Mentha longifolia (L.) Huds.	Lamiaceae	0.33
Artemisia absinthium L.	Asteraceae	0.10	Origanum tyttanthum Gontsch.	Lamiaceae	0.32
Artemisia annua L.	Asteraceae	0.11	Salvia sclarea L.	Lamiaceae	0.51
Artemisia rutifolia Stephan ex Spreng.	Asteraceae	0.91	Ziziphora clinopodioides Lam.	Lamiaceae	0.42
Artemisia scoparia Waldst. & Kit.	Asteraceae	0.52