Cinnamomum cassia essential oil and its major constituent cinnamaldehyde induced cell cycle arrest and apoptosis in human oral squamous cell carcinoma HSC-3 cells.

Cinnamomum cassia essential oil (CC-EO) has various functional properties, such as anti-microbial, hypouricemic, anti-tyrosinase and anti-melanogenesis activities. The present study aimed to evaluate the anti-cancer activities of CC-EO and its major constituent, cinnamaldehyde, in human oral squamous cell carcinoma HSC-3 cells. Determination of the cell viability, apoptotic characteristics, DNA damage, cell cycle analysis, reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, mitochondrial membrane potential, cytosolic Ca2+ level and intracellular redox status were performed. Our results demonstrated that CC-EO and cinnamaldehyde significantly decreased cell viability and caused morphological changes. The cell cycle analysis revealed that CC-EO and cinnamaldehyde induced G2/M cell cycle arrest in HSC-3 cells. The apoptotic characteristics (DNA laddering and chromatin condensation) and DNA damage were observed in the CC-EO-treated and cinnamaldehyde-treated HSC-3 cells. Moreover, CC-EO and cinnamaldehyde promoted an increase in cytosolic Ca2+ levels, induced mitochondrial dysfunction and activated cytochrome c release. The results of ROS production and intracellular redox status demonstrated that CC-EO and cinnamaldehyde significantly increased the ROS production and thiobarbituric acid reactive substance levels, and the cellular glutathione content and glutathione peroxidase activity were significantly reduced in HSC-3 cells. Our results suggest that CC-EO and cinnamaldehyde may possess anti-oral cancer activity in HSC-3 cells.