Purpose: There is accumulating evidence indicating that plant-derived monoterpenes have impressive health-promoting effects, among them anticancer, antimicrobial and many other activities. Carvone is an important monoterpene with pharmacological potential. In the current study we investigated the anticancer effects of carvone in myeloma KMS-5 cells.
Methods: The cell viability was estimated by MTT assay. Apoptosis was detected by DAPI, acridine orange/ethidium bromide (AO/EB) and annexin V/propidium iodide (PI) staining. Cell cycle analysis was done by flow cytometry. Cell invasion was determined by martigel invasion assay and protein expression was checked by western blotting.
Results: The results of the present study indicated carvone exerts significant anticancer effects on the myeloma cancer cells in a dose-dependent manner. The IC50 of carvone was found to be 20 μM against the myeloma KMS-5 cells. The antiproliferative effects were due to induction of apoptosis and G2/M cell cycle arrest. Moreover, carvone could inhibit the cell invasion and the expression of p-P38 protein at IC50.
Conclusions: In conclusion, the results indicate that carvone could prove to be an important molecule for the development of natural product-based anticancer therapy, especially against myeloma.