title: In vivo toxicity and antitumor activity of essential oils extract from agarwood (Aquilaria crassna).
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Aquilaria crassna has been used in traditional Asian medicine to treat vomiting, rheumatism, asthma, and cough. Furthermore, earlier studies from our laboratory have revealed that the essential oil extract from agarwood inhibited colorectal carcinoma cells. Despite of the wide range of ethno-pharmacological uses of agarwood, its toxicity has not been previously evaluated through systematic toxicological studies. Therefore, the potential safety of essential oil extract and its in vivo anti-tumor activity had been investigated.
  
  
  METHODS
  In the acute toxicity study, Swiss female mice were given a single dose of the essential oil extract at 2000 mg/kg/day orally and screened for two weeks after administration. Meanwhile, in the sub-chronic study, two different doses of the extract were administered for 28 days. Mortality, clinical signs, body weight changes, hematological and biochemical parameters, gross findings, organ weights, and histological parameters were monitored during the study. Other than that, in vivo anti-tumor study was assessed by using subcutaneous tumors model established in nude mice.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The acute toxicity study showed that the LD50 of the extract was greater than 2000 mg/kg. In the repeated dose for 28-day oral toxicity study, the administration of 100 mg/kg and 500 mg/kg of essential oil per body weight revealed insignificant difference in food and water intakes, bodyweight change, hematological and biochemical parameters, relative organ weights, gross findings or histopathology compared to the control group. Nevertheless, the essential oil extract, when supplemented to nude mice, caused significant growth inhibition of the subcutaneous tumor of HCT 116 colorectal carcinoma cells.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Collectively, the data obtained indicated that essential oil extract from agarwood might be a safe material, and this essential oil is suggested as a potential anti-colon cancer candidate.
authors.affiliation: EMAN Research and Testing Laboratory, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang, 11800, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Saad Sabbar
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Dahham
authors.affiliation: EMAN Research and Testing Laboratory, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang, 11800, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Loiy E Ahmed
authors.initials: LE
authors.lastname: Hassan
authors.affiliation: EMAN Research and Testing Laboratory, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang, 11800, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Mohamed B Khadeer
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Ahamed
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, School of Medical Sciences, Quest International University, Perak, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Aman Shah Abdul
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Majid
authors.affiliation: EMAN Research and Testing Laboratory, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang, 11800, Malaysia. aminmalikshah@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Amin Malik Shah Abdul
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Majid
authors.affiliation: Center of Excellence Geopolymer and Green Technology (CEGeoGTech), Faculty of Engineering Technology (FETech), Universiti Malaysia Perlis (UniMAP), UniCITI Alam Campus, 02100, Padang Besar, Perlis, Malaysia. niknoriman@unimap.edu.my.
authors.forename: Nik Noriman
authors.initials: NN
authors.lastname: Zulkepli
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001835:Body Weight / Q000187:drug effects; D049109:Cell Proliferation / Q000187:drug effects; D005260:Female; D045325:HCT116 Cells; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D008819:Mice, Nude; D009822:Oils, Volatile / Q000737:chemistry / Q000633:toxicity*; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000633:toxicity*; D013154:Spleen / Q000187:drug effects / Q000473:pathology; D029645:Thymelaeaceae / Q000737:chemistry*; D023382:Toxicity Tests, Acute
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D009822:Oils, Volatile; D010936:Plant Extracts
keywords: Agarwood; Anti-tumor; Essential oils; Nude mice; Oral toxicity