MEDICINAL PLANTS FOR BIOTECHNOLOGY AND BIOMEDICINE 

Minerva Biotecnologica 2005 September;17(3):153-8

Copyright © 2006 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

lingua: Inglese

Medicinal plants from Lebanon: effects of essential oils from Pistacia palaestina on proliferation and erythroid differentiation of human leukemic K562 cells

Lampronti I. ¹, Saab A. ², Gambari R. ^{1, 3}

¹ Biotechnology Center, University of Ferrara, Ferrara, Italy; ² Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Sciences II, University of Lebanon, Beirut, Lebanon; ³ ER-GenTech, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Ferrara, Ferrara, Italy

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Aim. Medicinal plants are used in prenatal care, in obstetrics, in gynecology, in respiratory disorders, in skin diseases, in cardiac pathologies, in nervous and muscular disorders, in mental health. In the present paper, we show that essential oil from Pistacia palaestina is able to inhibit the in vitro proliferation of human leukemic K562 cells.
Methods. After producing the essential oils from Pistacia palaestina, the in vitro antiproliferative activity and the induction of erythroid differentiation were assayed.
Results. These results suggest that the antiproliferative activity of Pistacia palaestina is not associated to induction of differentiation. However, when extracts from Pistacia palaestina are added to K562 cells together with suboptimal concentrations of mithramycin, a clear synergic effect was observed.
Conclusion. The results obtained demonstrate a novel antitumor property of Pistacia palaestina extracts, in addition to the previously reported anti-inflammatory, anti-ulcerative and hepatoprotective activities.