Investigating the antiproliferative and antioxidant potential of xanthoxylin and of essential oil isolated from Pulicaria incisa (Lam.) DC. herbal medicine

Fitoterapia. 2025 Jan:180:106344. doi: 10.1016/j.fitote.2024.106344. Epub 2024 Dec 10.

Abstract

In this study have been evaluated the antiproliferative and antioxidant activities of Israeli Pulicaria incisa (Lam.) DC. essential oil (Pi1), of essential oil partially purified by xanthoxylin (Pi2), one of its feature metabolites, and the isolated xanthoxylin (Xan). From the compositional analysis carried out by GC-MS oxygenated monoterpenes class was the main class (71.18 %), with cis-chrysanthenol (55.66 %) as the most abundant components, following by carvotanacetone (11.68 %). Other metabolites represented the second class (20.33 %), being xanthoxylin (15.35 %) the principal metabolites, isolated and characterized by NMR tecniques. Pi1 and Xan showed good antioxidant activity causing a clear reduction in ROS levels and an increase in CAT and SOD activity, while Pi2 showed a reduction in enzymatic activity. Furthermore, Pi1 and Xan demonstrated an apoptotic antiproliferative effect in a dose-dependent manner on solid and hematological tumors, unlike Pi2 which showed lower activity. These data showed that P. incisa EO had interesting antioxidant and antitumor activity and that the biological activities exhibited by the essential oil as a whole are mainly due to xanthoxylin.

Keywords: Antioxidant activity; Antiproliferative activity; Asteraceae; Essential oil; Pulicaria incisa (Lam.) DC.; Xanthoxylin.

MeSH terms

  • Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic* / isolation & purification
  • Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic* / pharmacology
  • Antioxidants* / isolation & purification
  • Antioxidants* / pharmacology
  • Apoptosis / drug effects
  • Cell Line, Tumor
  • Cell Proliferation / drug effects
  • Humans
  • Molecular Structure
  • Oils, Volatile* / chemistry
  • Oils, Volatile* / isolation & purification
  • Oils, Volatile* / pharmacology
  • Phytochemicals / isolation & purification
  • Phytochemicals / pharmacology
  • Pulicaria* / chemistry

Substances

  • Oils, Volatile
  • Antioxidants
  • Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic
  • Phytochemicals