Radioprotective Effects of Thymus Vulgaris L. Essential Oil on Human Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells
Abstract
Purpose: Generated free radicals by ionizing radiations, as powerful cytotoxic agents, can damage DNA and proteins. Thymus vulgaris L (thyme) plant is a rich source of antioxidant phenolic compounds, which makes it a preferable candidate for medical applications. Given this, we set out the present study to investigate the effectiveness of thyme essential oil on Human Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells (PBMCs) as a radioprotector agent against ionizing radiations.
Materials and Methods: We extracted the thyme essential oil by the conventional Clevenger extraction method. Heparinized peripheral blood samples were also collected from five male volunteers, aged 22-25, without a history of smoking and irradiation. PBMCs were isolated and the maximum nontoxic concentrations (85µg/ml (of thyme essential oil were determined based on the result of the MTT method. In the next step, the PBMCs were cultured in the presence of thyme essential oil before and after X-irradiation with doses of 0.25 and 2.00 Gy.
Results: The most radioprotective effect was observed in the dose of 2.00 Gy for thyme-treated cells 24 hours before the irradiation (p-value ≤ 0.001) by a survival enhancement factor of 1.67, compared to the control group.
Conclusion: Our results showed that thyme essential oil can be used as an effective radioprotector agent for PBMCs against ionizing radiations. The most radioprotective effect was observed in the presence of thyme essential oil during irradiation.
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[18] AHMED, O. M., GALALY, S. R., RASLAN, M., M., M. (2020). Thyme oil and thymol abrogate doxorubicin-induced nephrotoxicity and cardiotoxicity in Wistar rats via repression of oxidative stress and enhancement of antioxidant defense mechanisms. BIOCELL, 44(1), 41–53.
[19] Janitermi M, Nemati F. Cytotoxic effect of Zataria multiflora on breast cancer cell line (MCF-7) and normal fibroblast cells. Cumhuriyet Science Journal. 2015;36(3):1895-1904.
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[24] Villanueva Bermejo D, Angelov I, Vicente G, Stateva RP, Rodriguez García-Risco M, Reglero G, Ibañez E, Fornari T. Extraction of thymol from different varieties of thyme plants using green solvents. J Sci Food Agric. 2015 Nov;95(14):2901-7.
[25] Seung-Joo Lee, Katumi Umano, Takayuki Shibamoto, Kwang-Geun Lee,
Identification of volatile components in basil (Ocimum basilicum L.) and thyme leaves (Thymus vulgaris L.) and their antioxidant properties. Food Chemistry. 2005:91(1): 131-137.
[26] Hosseinimehr SJ, Mahmoudzadeh A, Ahmadi A, Ashrafi SA, Shafaghati N, Hedayati N. The radioprotective effect of Zataria multiflora against genotoxicity induced by γ irradiation in human blood lymphocytes. Cancer Biother Radiopharm. 2011 Jun;26(3):325-9.
[27] Tawfik, S.S., Zahran, A.M., Abbady, M.I., & Abouelalla, A.M.K. Therapeutic Efficacy Attained with Thyme Essential Oil Supplementation Throughout gamma-irradiated Rats. Egyptian Journal of Radiation Sciences and Applications. 2006; 19(1): 1-22.
[28] Archana P.R, B. Nageshwar Rao, B.S. Satish Rao. In vivo radioprotective potential of thymol, a monoterpene phenol derivative of cymene. Mutation Research/Genetic Toxicology and Environmental Mutagenesis.2011; 726(2):136-145.
[29] Mettler Jr FA, Huda W, Yoshizumi TT, Mahesh M. Effective doses in radiology and diagnostic nuclear medicine: a catalog. Radiology. 2008;248(1):254-63.
[30] Levin SG, Young RW, Stohler RL. Estimation of median human lethal radiation dose computed from data on occupants of reinforced concrete structures in Nagasaki, Japan. Health Phys. 1992;63(5):522-531.
[31] Khorasani, N. and Baharara, J. and Iranbakhsh, A.R. and Ramezani, T. (2016) Apoptotic effects of silver nanoparticles coated with Zataria multiflora leaves extract on HepG2 cell line. Feyz Journal of Kashan University of Medical Sciences.2016; 19: 457-267.
[32] Bozkurt E, Atmaca H, Kisim A, Uzunoglu S, Uslu R, Karaca B. Effects of Thymus serpyllum extract on cell proliferation, apoptosis and epigenetic events in human breast cancer cells. Nutr Cancer. 2012;64(8):1245-50.
[2] Rao S, Shetty S, Nalilu SK, Nalilu M. Radioprotective properties of chitosan on cultured human lymphocytes against electron beam radiation. J App Pharm Sci. 2015;5(8):147-151.
[3] Nada, A. S. Modulating Efficacy of Thyme Oil in Rats Exposed to γ- Radiation. Journal of Radiation Research and Applied Sciences. 2013; 6(1), 35-52.
[4] Sadeghi R, Razzaghdoust A, Bakhshandeh M, Nasirinezhad F, Mofid B. Nanocurcumin as a radioprotective agent against radiation-induced mortality in mice. Nanomed J. 2019;6(1):43-49.
[5] Maris M, Maris DA, Jipa S, Zaharescu T, Gorghiu LM. Radio-protective Potential of Rosemary (Rosmarinus Officinalis) against Effects of Ionising Radiation. Revista de Chimica. 2010;61:3.
[6] Tavakoli MB, Kiani A, Roayaei M. The effects of fenugreek on radiation induced toxicity for human blood T-cells in radiotherapy. J Med Signals Sens. 2015;5(3):176.
[7] Sancheti G, Goyal P. Role of rosemary leaf extract against various doses of gamma radiation. Trees Life J. 2007;2 :2.
[8] Soyal D, Jindal A, Singh I, Goyal P. Modulation of radiation-induced biochemical alterations in mice by rosemary (Rosemarinus officinalis) extract. Phytomedicine. 2007;14(10):701-705.
[9] Del Bano M, Castillo J, Benavente-García O, Lorente J, Martín-Gil R, et al. Radioprotective− Antimutagenic Effects of Rosemary Phenolics against Chromosomal Damage Induced in Human Lymphocytes by γ-rays. J Agric Food Chem. 2006; 22;54(6):2064-8.
[10] Jagetia GC. Radioprotective potential of plants and herbs against the effects of ionizing radiation. J clin biochem nutr. 2007;40(2):74-81.
[11] Hamad S. Aljabeili, Hassan Barakat, Hassan A. Abdel-Rahman. Chemical Composition, Antibacterial and Antioxidant Activities of Thyme Essential Oil (Thymus vulgaris). Food and Nutrition Sciences. 2018; 9:433-446.
[12] Ayesh BM, Abed AA, Doa’a MF. In vitro inhibition of human leukemia THP-1 cells by Origanum syriacum L. and Thymus vulgaris L. extracts. BMC Res Notes. 2014; 7: 612.
[13] Samarth RM, Samarth M, Matsumoto Y. Medicinally important aromatic plants with radioprotective activity. Future Sci OA. 2017;3(4):FSO247.
[14] Jaafari A, Mouse HA, Rakib EM, Tilaoui M, Benbakhta C, Boulli A, et al. Chemical composition and antitumor activity of different wild varieties of Moroccan thyme. Rev Bras Farmacogn. 2007;17(4):477-491.
[15] Farsani MS, Behbahani M, Isfahani HZ. The effect of root, shoot and seed extracts of the Iranian Thymus L.(family: Lamiaceae) species on HIV-1 replication and CD4 expression. Cell J. 2016;18(2):255.
[16] Al-Kuraieef, Amal Nasser and Amal Hassan Alshawi. The effect of gamma irradiation on the essential oils and antioxidants in dried thyme. International Journal of Food Studies. 2020; 9:203-212.
[17] Meeran MF, Prince PS. Protective effects of thymol on altered plasma lipid peroxidation and nonenzymic antioxidants in isoproterenol-induced myocardial infarcted rats. J Biochem Mol Toxicol. 2012;26(9):368-73.
[18] AHMED, O. M., GALALY, S. R., RASLAN, M., M., M. (2020). Thyme oil and thymol abrogate doxorubicin-induced nephrotoxicity and cardiotoxicity in Wistar rats via repression of oxidative stress and enhancement of antioxidant defense mechanisms. BIOCELL, 44(1), 41–53.
[19] Janitermi M, Nemati F. Cytotoxic effect of Zataria multiflora on breast cancer cell line (MCF-7) and normal fibroblast cells. Cumhuriyet Science Journal. 2015;36(3):1895-1904.
[20] Malik M, Sattar A, Khan S. Essential oils of the species of Labiatae Part III. Studies on the essential oil of Zataria multiflora. Pak J Sci Ind Res. 1987;30: 751-753.
[21] Doosti M-H, Ahmadi K, Fasihi-Ramandi M. The effect of ethanolic extract of Thymus kotschyanus on cancer cell growth in vitro and depression-like behavior in the mouse. J Tradit Complement Med. 2018;8(1):89-94.
[22] Gonçalves ND, de Lima Pena F, Sartoratto A, Derlamelina C, Duarte MCT, Antunes AEC, et al. Encapsulated thyme (Thymus vulgaris) essential oil used as a natural preservative in bakery product. Food Res Int. 2017;96:154-60.
[23] Pensel PE, Maggiore MA, Gende LB, Eguaras MJ, Denegri M, Elissondo MC. Efficacy of essential oils of Thymus vulgaris and Origanum vulgare on Echinococcus granulosus. Interdiscip Perspect Infect Dis. 2014;2014.
[24] Villanueva Bermejo D, Angelov I, Vicente G, Stateva RP, Rodriguez García-Risco M, Reglero G, Ibañez E, Fornari T. Extraction of thymol from different varieties of thyme plants using green solvents. J Sci Food Agric. 2015 Nov;95(14):2901-7.
[25] Seung-Joo Lee, Katumi Umano, Takayuki Shibamoto, Kwang-Geun Lee,
Identification of volatile components in basil (Ocimum basilicum L.) and thyme leaves (Thymus vulgaris L.) and their antioxidant properties. Food Chemistry. 2005:91(1): 131-137.
[26] Hosseinimehr SJ, Mahmoudzadeh A, Ahmadi A, Ashrafi SA, Shafaghati N, Hedayati N. The radioprotective effect of Zataria multiflora against genotoxicity induced by γ irradiation in human blood lymphocytes. Cancer Biother Radiopharm. 2011 Jun;26(3):325-9.
[27] Tawfik, S.S., Zahran, A.M., Abbady, M.I., & Abouelalla, A.M.K. Therapeutic Efficacy Attained with Thyme Essential Oil Supplementation Throughout gamma-irradiated Rats. Egyptian Journal of Radiation Sciences and Applications. 2006; 19(1): 1-22.
[28] Archana P.R, B. Nageshwar Rao, B.S. Satish Rao. In vivo radioprotective potential of thymol, a monoterpene phenol derivative of cymene. Mutation Research/Genetic Toxicology and Environmental Mutagenesis.2011; 726(2):136-145.
[29] Mettler Jr FA, Huda W, Yoshizumi TT, Mahesh M. Effective doses in radiology and diagnostic nuclear medicine: a catalog. Radiology. 2008;248(1):254-63.
[30] Levin SG, Young RW, Stohler RL. Estimation of median human lethal radiation dose computed from data on occupants of reinforced concrete structures in Nagasaki, Japan. Health Phys. 1992;63(5):522-531.
[31] Khorasani, N. and Baharara, J. and Iranbakhsh, A.R. and Ramezani, T. (2016) Apoptotic effects of silver nanoparticles coated with Zataria multiflora leaves extract on HepG2 cell line. Feyz Journal of Kashan University of Medical Sciences.2016; 19: 457-267.
[32] Bozkurt E, Atmaca H, Kisim A, Uzunoglu S, Uslu R, Karaca B. Effects of Thymus serpyllum extract on cell proliferation, apoptosis and epigenetic events in human breast cancer cells. Nutr Cancer. 2012;64(8):1245-50.
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| Issue | Vol 11 No 2 (2024) | |
| Section | Original Article(s) | |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.18502/fbt.v11i2.15345 | |
| Keywords | ||
| Radioprotector Antioxidant Thyme Essential Oil Ionizing Radiations Human Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cell | ||
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How to Cite
1.
Sanati P, Shams A, Rostami A, Shabani M, Hamzian N. Radioprotective Effects of Thymus Vulgaris L. Essential Oil on Human Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells. Frontiers Biomed Technol. 2024;11(2):278-285.
