Herbal infusions; their phenolic profile, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects in HT29 and PC3 cells

• Herbal infusions (HB) were prepared in the form they are actually consumed.
• LC–DAD–MS and GC–MS were applied for the characterization of HB phenolic profiles.
• Antioxidant and chemopreventive effects in colon and prostate cell lines were tested.
• Individual phenolics correlated with antioxidant, not with chemopreventive effect.
• HB merit further preclinical and clinical research as chemopreventive factors.

In this survey, we analyzed the phenolic profile of six herbal infusions namely Cretan marjoram, pink savory, oregano, mountain tea, pennyroyal and chamomile by LCDAD–MS and by GC–MS. Further, we investigated their anticarcinogenic effect as to their ability to (a) scavenge free radicals (b) inhibit proliferation (c) decrease IL-8 levels and (d) regulate nuclear factor-kappa B in epithelial colon cancer (HT29) and prostate (PC3) cancer cells. All herbal infusions exhibited antiradical activity correlated positevely with total phenolic content. Further, infusions exhibited the potential to inhibit cell proliferation and to reduce IL-8 levels in HT29 colon and PC3 prostate cancer cells. The molecular target for chamomile in HT29 seemed to be the NF-κB, while for the other herbal infusions needs to be identified. This study is the first to show the potential chemopreventive activity of infusions prepared from the examined herbs.