Anticancer Activity of Chitosan Nanoparticles Containing Satureja khuzistanica Essential Oil, and Carvacrol against Human Melanoma and Breast Cancer

Cancer, with the arising rate in developed and developing countries, was the 2nd cause of mortality in 2019; one of the greatest concerns is thus drug resistance in different cancers. Recently, essential oils, have been received more attention for preparing new drugs. In this study, a (Carvacrol-rich essential oil) and Carvacrol were first successfully entrapped in chitosan nanoparticles. A comprehensive comparison was then conducted on cytotoxic effects of non-formulated samples and the prepared nanoformulations on two cancer cell lines (A-375 and MDA-MB-468). The particle sizes of the prepared nanoformulation were 196 ± 8 and 211 ± 13 nm, respectively. The cytotoxic effect of chitosan nanoparticles containing Satureja khuzistanica essential oil (IC50 = 78.8 µg/mL) was more potent than other samples on A-375 cells (human melanoma cancer). However, chitosan nanoparticles containing Carvacrol indicated a more potent anticancer effect than other samples (IC50 = 43.5 µg/mL). As the nanoformulations promising efficacies and green constituents, they are thus good candidates for further research in animal models.