Background & Aims: Free radicals are one of the causes of cancer. In case of the disease, some cells of the body progress to the surrounding tissues and divide without stopping. The use of natural antioxidants plays a positive role in maintaining the health. Cancer and the presence of free radicals in the body motivated researchers to study substances that may eliminate them. The purpose of this study was to investigate the cytotoxicity and antioxidant effect of
Carum Carvi essential oil nanomulsion.
Materials & Methods: In this study, antioxidant activity was measured by DPPH and ABTS in different concentrations of nanoemulsion (200, 400, 600, 800 and 1000 μg/ml). Also, cytotoxicity was investigated by MTT method on breast cancer cells (TUBO) and normal cells (L929) at different concentrations of nanoemulsion.
Results: The results of the antioxidant, DPPH and ABTS tests with IC
50 indicated the antioxidant properties of
Carum Carvi essential oil nanoemulsion. The IC
50 showed anticancer activity of the nanoemulsion, however low concentration of nanoemulsion has no significant effect on normal cells.
Conclusion: The results suggested that
Carum Carvi essential oil nanoemulsion has the ability to inhibit the proliferation of cancer cells and also inhibit free radicals.