Cytotoxicity and antibacterial activity of Lindera strychnifolia essential oils and extracts.

AIM OF THE STUDY Lindera strychnifolia (LS) is widely used in traditional Chinese medicine. In the present study, we investigated cytotoxicity and antibacterial activity of essential oils and various fractions of ethanol extract of LS to explore the active components of LS and their pharmacological effects. MATERIALS AND METHODS The in vitro cytotoxicities of essential oils and various solvent fractions of LS on three human cancer cell lines (A549, HeLa and Hep G2) and a non-cancerous cell line (HUVEC) were examined using a modified MTT assay. And by using agar disc diffusion and broth microdilution methods, the antibacterial activity of these samples was evaluated against 10 bacteria including 5 clinically isolated strains. The compositions of the essential oils from the leaves and roots of LS were also analyzed by GC and GC-MS. RESULTS The leaf oil showed the strongest cytotoxicity on the cancer cell lines tested with the IC50 values ranged from 22 to 24 microg/ml after 24 h of treatment. The most sensitive microbial strain to all the samples was Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 25923. CONCLUSIONS Our results showed that the essential oils of LS exhibited greater cytotoxicity and antibacterial activity than the solvent fractions of ethanol extract of LS.