牛至属植物已被用于各种商业建筑、农业、酒精饮料、香料和食品调味物质中作为治疗烧伤和伤口的药物。牛至精油 (EOOO) 及其成分香芹酚 (CV) 具有广泛的生物活性，包括抗癌活性。本研究的目的是研究精油及其主要成分的生长抑制活性。使用台盼蓝排斥/溴脱氧尿苷 (BrdU) 掺入试验和方法，研究了 HepG2 细胞中 EOOO 和 CV 对细胞生长和 84 个肝毒性途径相关基因 mRNA 表达的影响。 24 小时后，EOOO 和 CV 抑制细胞生长，IC50 值分别为 0.08 µg/mL 和 45 µg/mL。实时逆转录聚合酶链式反应（RT2-PCR）阵列分析显示，在 EOOO 处理的细胞中，84 个基因中的 32 个基因的表达发生了至少 2 倍或更多的变化。其中，17个基因表达量升高，15个基因表达量降低。此外，将细胞暴露于 45 µg/mL CV 后，8 个基因的表达增加，而其他 8 个基因的表达减少。 EOOO和香芹酚均影响HepG2细胞中参与肝毒性途径的48个基因的表达，表明它们具有保肝作用和可能的抗肝癌作用。本研究表明，牛至精油和香芹酚可用于多种用途。由于其非肝毒性，因此可用于抗癌或草药等应用。© 2024。作者。

Origanum species have been used in various commercial constructions as a remedy against burns and wounds, agriculture, alcoholic drinks, fragrance, and flavoring substances of food products. The essential oil of Origanum onites L. (EOOO) and its component carvacrol (CV) possesses a wide range of biological activities including anti-cancer activity.The purpose of this study was to investigate the growth inhibitory activity of the essential oil and its major component CV and then hepatotoxicity pathway-related genes in HepG2 cells.The effects of the EOOO and CV on cell growth and mRNA expressions of 84 hepatotoxicity pathway-related genes were investigated in HepG2, using trypan blue exclusion/ bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) incorporation tests and real-time-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) array, respectively.The EOOO and CV inhibited cell growth with IC50 values of 0.08 µg/mL and 45 µg/mL, respectively, after 24 h. Real-time, reverse-transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT2-PCR) array analysis revealed that expressions of 32 genes out of 84 were changed at least 2-fold or more in the EOOO-treated cells. Among them, expression levels of 17 genes were elevated, while expression levels of 15 genes were diminished. Furthermore, after exposure of cells to 45 µg/mL of CV, the expression of 8 genes was increased while the other 8 genes were decreased. Both the EOOO and carvacrol affected the expression of 48 genes of HepG2 cells which are involved in the hepatotoxicity pathway, indicating their hepatoprotective and possible anti-hepatocarcinogenic effects.The present study demonstrates that the essential oil of Origanum onites and carvacrol can be used in various applications such as anticancer or herbal drugs, since its non-hepatotoxicity.© 2024. The Author(s).