# Anti-inflammatory and cancer chemopreventive potential of essential oils from some cultivated plants in Egypt **Authors:** Mohammed I. Ali, Ahmed R. Hamed, Emad M. Hassan, Faten M. Abou elella, Sayed A. El-Toumy, Ahmed M. Aboul-Enein PMC · DOI: 10.1038/s41598-026-35195-0 · Scientific Reports · 2026-01-29 ## TL;DR This study explores the anti-inflammatory and cancer chemopreventive effects of essential oils from four Egyptian plants, finding that Artemisia abrotanum is the most effective. ## Contribution The study provides new evidence on the anti-inflammatory and chemopreventive potential of essential oils from specific Egyptian plant species. ## Key findings - Artemisia abrotanum essential oil showed 96.6% inhibition of nitric oxide release, indicating strong anti-inflammatory activity. - Lavandula dentata and Artemisia abrotanum essential oils moderately induced the expression of the cancer chemopreventive marker NQO1. - Artemisia abrotanum essential oil significantly inhibited iNOS protein expression at 100 µg/ml. ## Abstract This study aimed to investigate the biological activity of essential oils (EOs) of Artemisia abrotanum, Lavandula dentata, Cymbopogon citratus and Laurus nobilis as anti-inflammatory and cancer chemopreventive activities. The anti-inflammatory activity was evaluated using lipopolysaccharides-induced nitric oxide (NO) inhibition on murine macrophage cells (RAW264.7) and cancer chemo-preventive influence was assessed in vitro utilizing Hepa1c1c7 murine carcinoma cells. The EO of A. abrotanum has the most potential activity toward inhibition of NO release, recording 96.6 ± 0.1%, as estimated by Greiss assay. Followed by EOs of L. dentata and L. nobilis with 63.6 ± 0.11 and 37.0 ± 0.23%, respectively. At the protein expression level, western blotting technique was used to evaluate the expression of iNOS. The EO of A. abrotanum at 100 µg/ml exhibited a very high impact on inhibiting iNOS expression, followed by EOs of L. dentata and L. nobilis. On the other hand, pre-screening concentration (100 µg/ml) revealed that the EOs of L. dentata and A. abrotanum have moderate potency to induce expression of chemo-preventive marker NQO1. The results revealed that the EO of A. abrotanum had strong anti-inflammatory activity. While the EOs of L. dentata and A. abrotanum have moderate potency to induce cancer chemoprevention. The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1038/s41598-026-35195-0. ## Linked entities - **Proteins:** NOS2 (nitric oxide synthase 2), NQO1 (NAD(P)H quinone dehydrogenase 1) - **Species:** Artemisia abrotanum (taxon 86306), Lavandula dentata (taxon 1441374), Cymbopogon citratus (taxon 66014), Laurus nobilis (taxon 85223), Mus musculus (taxon 10090) ## Full-text entities - **Genes:** Alox5 (arachidonate 5-lipoxygenase) [NCBI Gene 11689] {aka 5-LO, 5-LOX, 5LO, 5LX, F730011J02}, Il1b (interleukin 1 beta) [NCBI Gene 16176] {aka IL-1beta, Il-1b}, Mapk8 (mitogen-activated protein kinase 8) [NCBI Gene 26419] {aka JNK, JNK1, Prkm8, SAPK1}, Tnf (tumor necrosis factor) [NCBI Gene 21926] {aka DIF, TNF-a, TNF-alpha, TNFSF2, TNFalpha, Tnfa}, COX1 (cytochrome c oxidase subunit I) [NCBI Gene 17708] {aka CoxI}, Tlr4 (toll-like receptor 4) [NCBI Gene 21898] {aka Lps, Ly87, Ran/M1, Rasl2-8}, Actb (actin, beta) [NCBI Gene 11461] {aka Actx, E430023M04Rik, beta-actin}, Rela (Rela proto-oncogene, NFKB subunit) [NCBI Gene 19697] {aka p65, p65 NF-kappa B, p65 NFkB}, Keap1 (kelch-like ECH-associated protein 1) [NCBI Gene 50868] {aka INRF2, mKIAA0132}, Ache (acetylcholinesterase) [NCBI Gene 11423], Nfkb1 (nuclear factor of kappa light polypeptide gene enhancer in B cells 1, p105) [NCBI Gene 18033] {aka NF-KB1, NF-kappaB, NF-kappaB1, p105, p50, p50/p105}, COX2 (cytochrome c oxidase subunit II) [NCBI Gene 17709], Nos2 (nitric oxide synthase 2, inducible) [NCBI Gene 18126] {aka MAC-NOS, NOS-II, Nos-2, Nos2a, i-NOS, iNOS}, Il6 (interleukin 6) [NCBI Gene 16193] {aka Il-6}, Nfe2l2 (nuclear factor, erythroid derived 2, like 2) [NCBI Gene 18024] {aka Nrf2}, Hmox1 (heme oxygenase 1) [NCBI Gene 15368] {aka D8Wsu38e, HO-1, HO1, Hemox, Hmox, Hsp32}, Mapk14 (mitogen-activated protein kinase 14) [NCBI Gene 26416] {aka CSBP2, Crk1, Csbp1, Mxi2, PRKM14, PRKM15}, Nfkbia (nuclear factor of kappa light polypeptide gene enhancer in B cells inhibitor, alpha) [NCBI Gene 18035] {aka Nfkbi}, Mapk1 (mitogen-activated protein kinase 1) [NCBI Gene 26413] {aka 9030612K14Rik, ERK, Erk2, MAPK2, PRKM2, Prkm1}, Nqo1 (NAD(P)H dehydrogenase, quinone 1) [NCBI Gene 18104] {aka Dia4, Dtd, Nmo-1, Nmo1, Nmor1, Ox-1} - **Diseases:** Inflammation (MESH:D007249), breast cancer (MESH:D001943), carcinogenesis (MESH:D063646), non-small lung adenocarcinoma (MESH:D000077192), Chronic injury (MESH:D020208), edema (MESH:D004487), hepatic injury (MESH:D056486), metastasis (MESH:D009362), diabetic (MESH:D003920), asthma (MESH:D001249), hypotension (MESH:D007022), cytotoxic (MESH:D064420), Cancer (MESH:D009369), hepatocellular carcinoma (MESH:D006528), metabolic and infectious disorders (MESH:D003141), carcinogenic (MESH:D011230), infection (MESH:D007239), colon adenocarcinoma (MESH:D003110) - **Chemicals:** oils (MESH:D009821), FAD (MESH:D005182), LPS (MESH:D008070), water (MESH:D014867), eicosanoids (MESH:D015777), quinones (MESH:D011809), bisacrylamide (MESH:C021221), CO2 (MESH:D002245), cholesterol (MESH:D002784), charcoal (MESH:D002606), Artemisia ketone (MESH:C494252), terpenoids (MESH:D013729), Eucalyptol (MESH:D000077591), beta-myrcene (MESH:C008574), sucrose (MESH:D013395), EO (MESH:D009822), amines (MESH:D000588), Indomethacin (MESH:D007213), penicillin (MESH:D010406), Tween 20 (MESH:D011136), carrageenan (MESH:D002351), hydroquinones (MESH:D006873), streptomycin (MESH:D013307), EDTA (MESH:D004492), DMSO (MESH:D004121), DOX (MESH:D004317), alpha-eudesmol (MESH:C118684), ubiquinone (MESH:D014451), sodium sulfate (MESH:C012036), 4`-bromoflavone (MESH:C117304), Anti (-), NO (MESH:D009569), L-Glutamine (MESH:D005973), acrylamide (MESH:D020106), camphor (MESH:D002164), E-citral (MESH:C007076), alpha-pinene (MESH:C005451), gamma-eudesmol (MESH:C499668), tocopherols (MESH:D024505), formaldehyde (MESH:D005557), SDS (MESH:D012967), sabinene (MESH:C035127) - **Species:** Artemisia annua (sweet Annie, species) [taxon 35608], Artemisia vulgaris (common mugwort, species) [taxon 4220], Homo sapiens (human, species) [taxon 9606], Mus musculus (house mouse, species) [taxon 10090], Lavandula dentata (species) [taxon 1441374], Cymbopogon citratus (lemon grass, species) [taxon 66014], Rattus norvegicus (brown rat, species) [taxon 10116], Lavandula angustifolia (lavender, species) [taxon 39329], Artemisia fukudo (species) [taxon 637479], Laurus nobilis (bay laurel, species) [taxon 85223], Artemisia abrotanum (species) [taxon 86306], Artemisia herba-alba (white wormwood, species) [taxon 72329] - **Cell lines:** RAW264.7 — Mus musculus (Mouse), Mouse leukemia, Cancer cell line (CVCL_0493), Caco2 — Homo sapiens (Human), Colon adenocarcinoma, Cancer cell line (CVCL_0025), HaCaT — Homo sapiens (Human), Spontaneously immortalized cell line (CVCL_0038), HepG2 — Homo sapiens (Human), Hepatoblastoma, Cancer cell line (CVCL_0027), BV-2 — Mus musculus (Mouse), Transformed cell line (CVCL_0182), Hepa1c1c7 — Mus musculus (Mouse), Hepatocellular carcinoma of the mouse, Cancer cell line (CVCL_0328), A549 — Homo sapiens (Human), Lung adenocarcinoma, Cancer cell line (CVCL_0023), MDA-MB-231 — Homo sapiens (Human), Breast adenocarcinoma, Cancer cell line (CVCL_0062) ## Full text _Full body text omitted from this summary view._ Fetch the complete paper as Markdown: https://tomesphere.com/paper/PMC12864766/full.md ## Figures 6 figures with captions in the complete paper: https://tomesphere.com/paper/PMC12864766/full.md ## References 10 references — full list in the complete paper: https://tomesphere.com/paper/PMC12864766/full.md --- Source: https://tomesphere.com/paper/PMC12864766