Role of limonene in cell proliferation, lipid synthesis and oxidative stress

CASTRO MA; GALLE M; CRESPO R; GARCÍA DE BRAVO M

Rosario

Congreso; 50th Annual Meeting Argentine Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology; 2014

D-limonene (L) is one of the most frequent terpenes in nature and a major constituent in several citrus essential oils. Many terpenes have antitumor and hypolipidemic activity with multiple effects on mevalonate pathway (MP). Also, they have attracted interest for its potential antioxidant properties. The aim of this work was to study the effects of L on cell proliferation (CP), on MP and on the redox balance. The CP was evaluated in human tumor cell lines (HepG2 and A549) incubated with different concentrations of L (0.05-0.4 µl/ml) by MTT and neutral red assays, and the cell cycle progression was analyzed by flow cytometry. Incorporation of 14C-acetate in lipids, particularly in intermediates and products of MP were determined by radio-TLC. Anti or pro-oxidative effect of L was studied by lipids peroxidation analyses (TBARS) in culture cells and in human plasma LDL, and by spectrophotometric analyses of superoxide dismutase, catalase and glutathione - S -transferase activities. Our results showed that L inhibits CP in both cell lines. Cholesterol synthesis decreased in a dose-dependent manner but ubiquinone and some MP intermediates showed a dose-dependent increased. Total lipids synthesis decreased with the highest doses. No changes were observed in saturated/unsaturated fatty acids ratio. Lipid peroxidation and antioxidant enzymes showed that L has anti or pro-oxidant effect depend on doses used.