Beta-Caryophyllene Suppresses Ovarian Cancer Proliferation by Inducing Cell Cycle Arrest and Apoptosis.

Ovarian cancer is the fifth most common cause of cancer deaths among women with lesser prognostics. Current treatment options are chemotherapy with platinum and taxane based chemotherapy, post cytoreductive surgery. β-Caryophyllene (BCP) an essential oil found in many plant species are known to possess an anti-proliferative effect.We aimed to investigate the antiproliferative, cytotoxic, and apoptotic role of BCP against ovarian cancer cells PA-1 and OAW 42.The antiproliferative effect of BCP was determined by MTT assay and cell viability by trypan blue exclusion assay. Cell cycle and live dead cell analyses were performed by flow cytometry to determine cell cycle distribution and apoptosis respectively.Results of MTT assay proved the anti-proliferative effect of BCP in a dose and time-dependent manner on ovarian cancer cells. Cell cycle analysis showed that BCP induced S Phase arrest in OAW 42 cells. Results of apoptosis assay confirmed the apoptosis inducing potential of BCP in ovarian cancer cells. The apoptosis is mediated by caspase-3 activation.The results of our present study prove that BCP exerts its action partly by inducing cell cycle arrest and apoptosis in ovarian cancer. We conclude that BCP is a potential anti-cancer agent.