Protective effects of mastic oil from pistacia lentiscus variation chia against experimental growth of lewis lung carcinoma

Sophia Magkouta, Georgios T. Stathopoulos, Ioannis Psallidas, Andreas Papapetropoulos, Fragiskos N. Kolisis, Charis Roussos, Heleni Loutrari

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

36 Scopus citations

Abstract

Mastic oil from Pistacia lentiscus variation chia, a traditionally used dietary flavoring agent with medicinal properties, has been shown to exert in vitro antitumor activities, but no study has addressed in vivo efficacy and mechanisms of action. Presently, we demonstrated that treatment of immunocompetent mice with mastic oil (45 mg/kg body weight, intraperitoneally, 3 times a wk for 3 wk) significantly inhibited tumor growth (56.4% 5.7 maximum reduction in tumor volumes) without toxicity. Analysis of tumors by immunohistochemistry and ELISA indicated that this effect is associated with increased apoptosis, reduced neovascularization, and inhibition of chemokine expression. Likewise mastic oil reduced vascular endothelial growth factor and chemokine release by Lewis lung carcinoma (LLC) cells. Furthermore, mastic oil administration decreased small guanosine triphosphatases (GTPases) Ras, RhoA and nuclear factor - B-dependent reporter gene expression in vivo and in vitro, indicating a mechanistic link between mastic oil activities and blocking of relevant signaling and transcription pathways. A dose-response comparison with perillyl alcohol and -pinene, two of its components, revealed a higher efficacy of mastic oil, pointing to a beneficial collective interaction among its ingredients. Conclusively, our results provide novel in vivo evidence of mastic oil inhibitory effects on tumor growth and set a rational basis for its future application in cancer prevention.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)640-648
Number of pages9
JournalNutrition and Cancer
Volume61
Issue number5
DOIs
StatePublished - Sep 2009
Externally publishedYes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Medicine (miscellaneous)
  • Oncology
  • Nutrition and Dietetics
  • Cancer Research

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Protective effects of mastic oil from pistacia lentiscus variation chia against experimental growth of lewis lung carcinoma'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this