In this study, we compared the effects of terpinolene against the anti-cancer agent cisplatin on proliferation, apoptotic activity and intracellular ROS (reactive oxygen species) production in cancerous (MCF-7) and non-cancerous (HEK-293) cell lines. Cisplatin presented a strong growth-inhibitory effect on both MCF-7 (IC₂₅: 18.77 µM) and HEK-293 (IC₂₅: 15.03 µM) cell lines. The growth-inhibitory effect of terpinolene was found to be weaker than cisplatin (IC₂₅: 291.18 µM for MCF-7 and 345.35 µM for HEK 293 cells). The expression levels of BAX (by 1.86-fold), cleaved-PARP (by 2.23-fold) and pro-caspase-8 (by 1.74-fold) proteins increased in response to terpinolene treatment in MCF-7 cells. Curiously, the increase in the expression levels of these apoptotic markers was less pronounced in terpinolene-treated non-cancerous HEK 293 cells. Terpinolene, promoted a higher rate of apoptotic and necrotic cell death on MCF-7 cells (apoptotic cells: 25.28 %; necrotic cells: 17.70 %) when compared with HEK-293 cell line (apoptotic cells: 15.47 %; necrotic cells: 9.42 %). Interestingly, terpinolene caused a marked increase (2.05-fold) in intracellular ROS production in MCF-7 cells while HEK-293 cells appeared to be resistant to terpinolene or cisplatin treatments. In conclusion, although terpinolene showed a weaker growth-inhibitory effect on MCF-7 cancer cells, it exhibited a better selectivity than cisplatin in inducing cell death and intracellular oxidative stress in MCF7 breast cancer cells.

在这项研究中，我们比较了萜品油烯对抗癌剂顺铂对癌细胞 (MCF-7) 和非癌 (HEK-293) 细胞系增殖、凋亡活性和细胞内 ROS（活性氧）产生的影响。顺铂对 MCF-7 (IC ₂₅ : 18.77 µM) 和 HEK-293 (IC ₂₅ : 15.03 µM) 细胞系均具有强烈的生长抑制作用。发现萜品油烯的生长抑制作用弱于顺铂 (IC ₂₅：MCF-7 为 291.18 µM，HEK 293 细胞为 345.35 µM）。BAX（增加 1.86 倍）、cleaved-PARP（增加 2.23 倍）和 pro-caspase-8（增加 1.74 倍）蛋白的表达水平响应于 MCF-7 细胞中的萜品油烯处理而增加。奇怪的是，这些凋亡标志物表达水平的增加在萜品油烯处理的非癌性 HEK 293 细胞中不太明显。与 HEK-293 细胞系（凋亡细胞：15.47 %；坏死细胞：9.42 %）相比，萜品油烯促进了 MCF-7 细胞（凋亡细胞：25.28 %；坏死细胞：17.70 %）的更高的凋亡和坏死细胞死亡率）。有趣的是，萜品油烯导致 MCF-7 细胞中细胞内 ROS 产生显着增加（2.05 倍），而 HEK-293 细胞似乎对萜品油烯或顺铂治疗具有抗性。综上所述，