Fatty acid composition and anticancer activity in colon carcinoma cell lines of Prunus dulcis seed oil

Context: Almond oil is used in traditional and complementary therapies for its numerous health benefits due to high unsaturated fatty acids content. Objectives: This study investigated the composition and in vitro anticancer activity of almond oil from Northern Cyprus and compared with almond oil from Turkey. Materials and methods: Almond oil from Northern Cyprus was obtained by supercritical CO(2) extraction and analyzed by GC-MS. Almond oil of Turkey was provided from Turkish pharmacies. Different concentrations of almond oils were incubated for 24 and 48 h with Colo-320 and Colo-741 cells. Cell growth and cytotoxicity were measured by MTT assays. Anticancer and antiprolifetarive activities of almond oils were investigated by immunocytochemistry using antibodies directed against to BMP-2, β-catenin, Ki-67, LGR-5 and Jagged 1. Results: Oleic acid (77.8%; 75.3%), linoleic acid (13.5%; 15.8%), palmitic acid (7.4%; 6.3%), were determined as the major compounds of almond oil from Northern Cyprus and Turkey, respectively. In the MTT assay, both almond oils were found to be active against Colo-320 and Colo-741 cells with 1:1 dilution for both 24 h and 48 h. As a result of immunohistochemical staining, while both almond oils exhibited significant antiproliferative and anticancer activity, these activities were more similar in Colo-320 cells which were treated with Northern Cyprus almond oil. Discussion and conclusion: Almond oil from Northern Cyprus and Turkey may have anticancer and antiproliferative effects on colon cancer cells through molecular signalling pathways and, thus, they could be potential novel therapeutic agents.