Comparative Study of Antioxidant and Anticancer Activity of Thuja orientalis Growing in Egypt and Saudi Arabia

Cancer is a life threatening diseases, caused by many factors including the oxidative stress. Some medicinal plants are rich with volatile oil represent an important source of antioxidant and anticancer drugs. This study explored the compositions of the essential oils of the flowering aerial parts of Thuja orientalis (cupressaceae) and evaluated antioxidant and cytotoxic activity against different tumors cell lines. The compositions of the essential oils obtained by hydro-distillation of the flowering aerial parts was determined by GC-MS analysis, the antioxidant activities of essential were determined by DPPH radical scavenging method and, In-vtro cytotoxic activities were evaluated against different tumors cell lines, MCF7 (breast carcinoma cell line), PC3 (human prostate carcinoma), HCT116 (human colon carcinoma), A549 (lung carcinoma cell line), and Hep-G2 (liver carcinoma cell line), by the MTT method. The results showed that essential analyzed sample, very rich in Phellandrene, Terpenyl acetat, and β -Caryophyllene with high amounts. The results showed that essential oil extracted from Saudi plant exhibited higher antioxidant activity. Saudi oil extract also possess highest cytotoxic activities against MCF7, followed by, PC3 and, Hep-G2 while the least activity was recorded against lung carcinoma cell line. The highest antioxidant and cytotoxic activity of Thuja plant growing in Saudi Arabia were correlated with its high content of some compounds which are rich in Saudi plant and absence in Egyptian plant. These findings revealed that plant in two regions could be considered as a great potential source for natural health products, where Saudi plant more adapted to drastic condition by accumulation of higher amount of essential oil.