Juniperus oxycedrus leaf essential oil : chemical characterisation and in vitro cytotoxic activity

Abstract

Cancer is the second leading cause of death globally and was responsible for 8.8 million deaths in 2015. Among the most common type of cancer that kill people were breast, cervical and bold cancers (OMS). The economic impact of cancer is significant and is increasing. The total annual economic cost of cancer in 2010 was estimated at approximately US$ 1.16 trillion (1). Therefore, the resort to the use of the natural product becomes more and more propitious specially in patients that develop multidrug resistance. The use of essential oil for their anticancer activity dated to 1960 (2)(Bagora et al., 2014) Aim: After the chemical characterization of the leaf essential oil from Juniperus ocycedrus (Cupressaceae), the in vitro cytotoxic activity of this oil on MCF7 and K562 was tested using MTT assay.