Mechanistic Actions between Garcinia atroviridis Essential Oil and 2 Deoxy-d-glucose in Cultured PANC-1 Human Pancreatic Cancer Cells

• Published in: Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) Vol. 26; no. 12; p. 3518
• Main Authors: Nik Mohamed Kamal, Nik Nur Syazni, Abdul Aziz, Fatin Athirah, Tan, Wen-Nee, Fauzi, Agustine Nengsih, Lim, Vuanghao
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basel MDPI AG 09.06.2021; MDPI
• Subjects: 2-deoxy- d -glucose; anti-proliferative; Antimicrobial agents; Antiproliferatives; Apoptosis; Aromatherapy; Cancer therapies; Cell division; Coronaviruses; COVID-19; Cytotoxicity; Depolarization; essential oil; Essential oils; Fruits; Garcinia; Gene expression; Glucose; Herbal medicine; Medical prognosis; Membrane potential; Metabolites; Mitochondria; Oils & fats; PANC-1 cells; Pancreatic cancer; Phenols; Phytochemicals; Staphylococcus infections; Synergism; Malaysia
• ISSN: 1420-3049; 1420-3049
• DOI: 10.3390/molecules26123518

Pancreatic cancer is an aggressive disease that progresses in a relatively symptom-free manner; thus, is difficult to detect and treat. Essential oil is reported to exhibit pharmacological properties, besides its common and well-known function as aromatherapy. Therefore, this study herein aimed to investigate the anti-proliferative effect of essential oil extracted from leaves of Garcinia atroviridis (EO-L) against PANC-1 human pancreatic cancer cell line. The cell growth inhibitory concentration at 50% (IC50) and selective index (SI) values of EO-L analyses were determined as 78 µg/mL and 1.23, respectively. Combination index (CI) analysis revealed moderate synergism (CI values of 0.36 to 0.75) between EO-L and 2 deoxy-d-glucose (2-DG) treatments. The treatments of PANC-1 cells with EO-L, 2-DG and EOL+2DG showed evidence of depolarization of mitochondrial membrane potential, cell growth arrest and apoptosis. The molecular mechanism causing the anti-proliferative effect between EO-L and 2-DG is potentially through pronounced up-regulation of P53 (4.40-fold), HIF1α (1.92-fold), HK2 (2.88-fold) and down-regulation of CYP3A5 (0.11-fold), as supported by quantitative mRNA expression analysis. Collectively, the current data suggest that the combination of two anti-proliferative agents, EO-L and 2-DG, can potentially be explored as therapeutic treatments and as potentiating agents to conventional therapy against human pancreatic cancer.