Artemisia dracunculus L. essential oil phytochemical components trigger the activity of cellular antioxidant enzymes

Investigation of dietary biologically active phytochemicals is of interest due to the availability, low cost, and low rate of side effects of these substances. The main objective of this work was to investigate the influence of the essential oil (EO) extracted from the aerial parts of Artemisia dracunculus on the antioxidant capacity of cells as this plant is one of the most available and widely used as spice and in folk medicine. For this, BV-2 microglial wild type (WT) and acyl-CoA oxidase type 1 (ACOX1) deficient cells (Acox1^−/−) were used. Acox1^−/− cells were applied as the model of cellular oxidative damage. The main component of EO of A. dracunculus was estragole, which was reaching 84.9% in plants cultivated at high altitude Armenian landscape. IC₅₀ value of EO in 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl assay was 94.2 µg/ml. Sub-cytotoxic concentration in the 3-(4, 5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide test for both BV-2 WT and Acox1^−/− cell lines was 5.10⁻¹ µg/ml. Seventy-two-hours treatment with EO leads to the increased viability (up to 12% in WT and up to 14% -in BV-2 Acox1^−/−cells). The 48-hr treatment increased the ACOX1 activity up to 70% in WT cells. Catalase and superoxide dismutase activities of both cell lines increased following the 24–48-hr treatment. These results indicate that A. dracunculus EO can be considered as a potential protective agent useful in preventive medicine.