CYTOPROTECTIVE, ANTIOXIDANT AND ANTI‐INFLAMMATORY EFFECTS OF ESSENTIAL OIL AND MAJOR TERPENES OF Satureja macrostema IN ENDOTHELIAL CELLS
Authors: Torres‐Martínez Rafael , Hernández‐García Alejandra , Saavedra‐Molina Alfredo , López‐Meza Joel Edmundo , Zarzosa Alejandra Ochoa , Salgado‐Garciglia Rafael 
Published: June 2021

Satureja macrostema is a Mexican medicinal plant known as nurite, it is used in decoctions and infusions for the treatment of stomach pain and liver and intestinal diseases, which present inflammatory processes and oxidative stress. In our working group, the in vitro antioxidant activity of the essential oil of aerial parts of S. macrostema obtained by hydrodistillation was determined, and the main volatile terpenes present in this oil were identified (limonene, linalool, menthone, pulegone, thymol and caryophyllene). Therefore, the objetive of the present study was to investigate the cytoprotective, antioxidant and anti‐inflammatory activities of the essential oil of S. macrostema and their major terpenes in bovine umbilical vein endothelial cells (BUVEC), under oxidative stress induced by H2O2 and an inflammatory state induced by lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Cell viability was evaluated by the MTT reduction assay and trypan blue exclusion. BUVEC cells were incubated with the essential oil and the major terpenes (limonene, linalool, menthone, pulegone, thymol and caryophyllene) of S. macrostema at concentrations of 1, 10 100 and 1000 μg/mL; finding that pretreatment of BUVEC with essential oil of S. macrostema and the terpenes limonene, linalool, menthone, pulegone, thymol and caryophyllene showed no cytotoxicity at concentrations of 1, 10 and 100 μg/mL; with a viability greater than 85% of the epithelial bovine cells. The production of reactive species of oxygen (ROS) and nitrogen (RNS) were measured by Flow cytometry in BUVEC cells incubated with H2O2 2% during 24 h after pretreatment with the essential oil and terpenes of S. macrostema (1, 10 and 100 μg/mL). Production of cytoplasmic and mitochondrial ROS, nitric oxide, superoxide anion and hydroxyl radical in BUVEC treated with H2O2 decreased with the essential oil and the six major terpenes at the three concentrations tested. Quantification of the gene expression of TNF‐α and IL‐10 cytokine was carried out by real‐time qPCR inducing inflammation with LPS 100 ng/mL; where, BUVEC cells were pretreatment with essential oil of S. macrostema and the terpenes pulegone and thymol at concentrations of 1, 10 and 100 μg/mL. Expression of TNF‐α decreased up to more than 6 times with pretreatment at the three concentrations of essential oil of S. macrostema, thymol and pulegone. On the other hand, expression of the anti‐inflammatory cytokine IL‐10 was increased with essential oil and thymol, reaching a maximum of 14.46 and 23.76 times, respectively at 100 μg/mL. The results revealed that the essential oil of S. macrostema and its major terpenes present a cytoprotective, antioxidant and anti‐inflammatory effects against oxidative stress and inflammation at concentrations that do not compromise BUVEC cells viability.

Support or Funding Information

Grants: Financial support grant from CONACYT (RTM) and CIC/UMSNH (Project 2.10 RSG and 14.1 to AOZ).

This abstract is from the Experimental Biology 2019 Meeting. There is no full text article associated with this abstract published in The FASEB Journal.