α-Humulene

α-Humulene is extracted from S.officinalis essential oil.α-Humulene can inhibit tumor cell growth.α-Humulene also shows anti-inflammatory effects, probably by interfering with TNFalpha production and COX-2 and iNOS expression.(In Vitro):The cytotoxic activity was evaluated in cellular lines of breast cancer MCF-7, colon cancer HCT-116, and murine macrophage RAW264.7 cell lines by the MTT assay Results: the sub-subfraction F1.1.1 of S. officinalis essential oil containing alpha-humulene present highest activity on RAW264.7 and HCT-116 with IC(50) values of 41.9 and 77.3 mu g/ml, respectively. The sub-subfraction F1.2.1 of S. officinalis essential oil with trans-caryophyllene(Alpha-caryophyllene) showed less activity on RAW246.7 and HCT-116 with IC(50) values of 90.5 and 145.8 mu g/ml. The cytotoxicity of α-Humulene against human lung carcinoma A549, colon adenocarcinoma DLD-1, skin fibroblasts WS1 cell lines is 28±1, 43±3, and 24±3 μg/mL, respetctively.