Modeling of antiproliferative effects of Salvia officinalis L. essential oil optimized using Box–Behnken design

Abstract Background Salvia officinalis L. essential oil (SoEO) was mostly traditionally used to medicate various diseases as cancer. Then, the present work aims were: (1) to model the cytotoxicity effects of Salvia officinalis L. essential oil (SoEO) related to the human cancer cell lines kind (MCF-7 and HeLa) ; (2) to optimize the hydro-distillation extraction conditions of SoEO; and, (3) to determine the in vitro scavenging capacity of the free radicals DPPH•, NO•, ABTS+, and the ability to reduce Fe3+. Methods The cytotoxicity and anti-proliferative abilities were evaluated by measuring cell viability and then modeled. Two human cell lines: MCF-7 and HeLa were used. The optimization of SoEO extraction by hydro-distillation was carried out with Response Surface Methodology (RSM) using the Box–Behnken design Results The cytotoxicity activity against both tumor cell lines MCF-7 and HeLa was considerably important with IC50 = 3.125 and 8.920 µg/mL, respectively. All treated cell lines showed a significant reducing in cell viability in response to the increasing oil concentration. The relative behaviors of both cell lines under SoEO treatment were modeled. The obtained optimal extraction yield was Y = 1.85 g/100 g d.b. The main identified fractions were camphene (23.7%), α-thujone (19.62%), 1,8-cineole (10.6%), viridiflorol (5.9%), borneol (5.72%); β-thujone (5.4%); caryophyllene (3,83%). Also, SoEO was mostly able to scavenge DPPH• free radical, ABTS+ radical and hydrogen peroxide in an amount dependent manner (IC50 = 0.97, 0.279 and 0.05 mg/mL, respectively). Conclusion The present work provides a preliminary platform for further investigation of the possible mechanism of S. officinalis essential oils and their individual compounds in cytotoxic and antitumor activity.