Anticarcinogenic Effect of Chitosan Nanoparticles Containing Syzygium aromaticum Essential Oil or Eugenol Toward Breast and Skin Cancer Cell Lines

The development of new green drugs is crucial because of the side effects and resistance to chemotropic drugs. Essential oils with a broad range of bioactivities such as antioxidant and anticancer activities are great resources for research and investigation. In this study, ingredients of the used Syzygium aromaticum essential oil (SAEO) were identified using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis. The antioxidant effect of eugenol (major ingredients) was more potent than SAEO; their half-maximal inhibitory concentrations (IC(50)s) were observed at 109 and 204 mu g mL(-1). Chitosan nanoparticles containing SAEO (158 +/- 4 nm) and eugenol (200 +/- 13 nm) were prepared using the ionic gelation method. The potency of the nanoformulations was significantly more than their non-formulated states on both examined cell lines. IC(50)s of chitosan nanoparticles containing SAEO and eugenol against melanoma (A-375) cells were obtained at 73 and 79 mu g mL(-1); these values on breast (MDA-MB-468) cells were 177 and 51 mu g mL(-1). Results showed that chitosan nanoparticles containing eugenol could be considered chemo-preventative or anticancer agents in further in vivo studies.

Automated summary

The study identified eugenol as the major ingredient in clove essential oil, with stronger antioxidant effects than the oil itself. Nanoformulations of chitosan nanoparticles containing eugenol exhibited significantly enhanced anticancer activity on melanoma and breast cancer cells.