In vitro Antimicrobial and Cytotoxicity Assays of Satureja bakhtiarica and Zataria multiflora Essential Oils

In the present study, the antimicrobial and the antitumor activities of the essential oils obtained from Satureja bakhtiarica and Zataria multiflora were evaluated in vitro. The essential oils were extracted using a clevenger apparatus and then the chemical composition was analyzed by GC-MS. An MTT cytotoxicity assay was employed to test effects of the essential oil on human normal embryonic kidney cells (HEK) and cancerous cell lines (human breast cell MDA-MB- 231 and human ovary cancer cell SKOV3). The essential oil of S. bakhtiarica showed high antitumor activity on SKOV3 and MDAMB- 231 cell lines (IC50 of 74.6μg/ml and IC₅₀ 83.76μg/ml, respectively). Its activity on normal HEK cell lines was interesting (IC50 of 102.03μg/ml) compared with tumor cell lines. Besides that, essential oil of Zataria showed least antitumor activity on both SKOV3 and MDA-MB-231cell lines (IC50 of 112.2μg/ml and IC50 141.76μg/ml, respectively) compared with S. bakhtiarica essential oil. Both oils also showed good antibacterial and antifungal activities. The MBC values of the strains sensitive to the essential oil were in the ranges of 0.3% to 2%. The essential oils from S. bakhtiarica and Z. multiflora, which exhibited antimicrobial and antitumor activities, deserve further research into the chemoprevention and treatment of human ovary and breast cancers as well as infectious diseases. Therefore, further studies are necessary to evaluate this oil in animal models (in vivo) for future drug applications.

Author(s): Ghasem Mohammadpour, Rahmat Tahmasbpour, SakinehKazemi Noureini, Eisa Tahmasbpour and Ghasem Bagherpour

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