Dudai N, Weinstein Y, Krup M, Rabinski T, Ofir R
Planta Medica, 2005
ABSTRACT:
Citral, 3,7-dimethyl-2,6-octadien-1-al, a key component of the lemon-scented essential oils extracted from several herbal plants such as lemon grass (Cymbopogon citratus), melissa (Melissa officinalis), verbena (Verbena officinalis) is used as a food additive and as a fragrance in cosmetics. In this study, we investigated the anti-cancer potential of citral and its mode of action. Concentrations of 44.5 μM, comparable to the concentration of citral in a cup of tea prepared from 1 g of lemon grass, induced apoptosis in several hematopoietic cancer cell lines. Apoptosis was accompanied by DNA fragmentation and caspase-3 catalytic activity induction. Citral activity (22.25 μM) was compared to a reference compound like staurosporine (0.7 μM), in respect to DNA fragmentation and caspase-3 enzymatic activity. The apoptotic effect of citral depended on the α,β-unsaturated aldehyde group.
CITATION:
Dudai N, Weinstein Y, Krup M, et al. Citral is a new inducer of caspase-3 in tumor cell lines. Planta Med. 2005;71(5):484-488.
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