Evaluation of Antioxidant and Anticancer Effects of Nanoemulsions Prepared Using Dill Essential Oil

Among nano-pharmaceutical materials, nanoemulsions are an important tool in the field of nanotechnology. They have been designed for clinical and therapeutic applications. Since the therapeutic efficacy of cancer is measured by the ability of the drug to reduce and eliminate tumors without damaging healthy tissues, nanoemulsions can be useful as a targeted drug carrier. Therefore, we are going to study the antioxidant and anticancer effects of nanoemulsions prepared using dill essential oil.

 Evaluate the antioxidant properties, we used DPPH (1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl) and ABTS (2,2'-azino-bis[3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulphonic acid]) tests. We also applied MTT assay for the evaluation of induced cytotoxicity in liver hepatocellular carcinoma cells and normal human umbilical vein endothelial cells.

 The Research Ethics Committee of Islamic Azad University (Mashhad Branch) approved this study (Code: IR.IAU.MSHD.REC.1398.027).

 Nanoemulsions prepared using dill essential oil has a good potential for inhibiting DPPH (IC50=500 μg/mL) and ABTS (IC50=420 μg/mL) radicals. Nanoemulsions also caused a little toxicity to both cell lines. Nanoemulsions reduced cell viability in a dose-dependent manner and the cytotoxicity induced to cancer cells was higher than normal cells. 

 The present study indicates that nanoemulsions prepared by dill essential oil will have the potential to become a therapeutic strategy for diseases caused by oxidative stress.