Novel anti-angiogenic effects of aromatic-turmerone, essential oil isolated from spice turmeric

• In vitro anti-angiogenic activities of aromatic-turmerone in human endothelial cells.
• In vivo anti-angiogenic activities of aromatic-turmerone in zebrafish embryos and matrigel plug mouse model.
• This is possibly the first report on the anti-angiogenic activities of aromatic-turmerone.
• Provided scientific insight into the development of such a component of turmeric essential oil to be an anti-angiogenic agent.

Angiogenesis is essential for tumor growth and there is a continuing need for exploring new anti-angiogenic agents from natural products including herbs. Aromatic (Ar)-turmerone isolated from the rhizome of Curcuma longa Linn. (Turmeric) exhibits anti-tumor and immunomodulatory activities. In this study, the anti-angiogenic effects of Ar-turmerone were evaluated in human microvascular endothelial cells, zebrafish and Matrigel plugs mouse models. The data obtained indicate that Ar-turmerone treatment significantly inhibits the proliferation, tube formation and motility of HMEC-1 cells at non-cytotoxic concentrations (4.6–9.2 µM, p < 0.05). The mRNA expressions of metalloproteinase-2 and -9 as well as adhesion molecules could be down-regulated by Ar-turmerone at 18.4 µM (p < 0.05). In zebrafish model, the new blood vessel growth in embryos was significantly blocked by Ar-turmerone treatment (12.5–25 µg/mL medium). The bFGF-induced blood vessel formation in Matrigel plugs in C57BL/6 mice was suppressed by Ar-turmerone (25–50 µg/mL Matrigel). Thus, the in vitro and in vivo anti-angiogenic activities of Ar-turmerone were demonstrated for the first time. The findings suggest that such a component of turmeric essential oil has the potential to be further developed as an anti-angiogenic agent.