Antineoplastic potential of carnosic acid from Rosmarinus officinalis L., Lamiaceae (rosemary): a literature review

Abstract

Carnosic acid is one of the main antioxidant phenolic diterpenes present in rosemary (Rosmarinus offi cinalis L.), with an emphasis on its anticancer potential. Thus, this work aims to investigate in the literature the  antineoplastic potential of carnosic acid present in Rosmarinus officinalis L.  This is a narrative retrospective study, in which a literature review was  carried out in the following databases: SciELO, ScienceDirect, PubMed and Google Scholar, using the keywords: Rosmarinus officinalis, carnosic acid, antineoplastic and phytotherapy in the period of 2015 to 2020. Rosmarinus
officinalis L. has several pharmacological actions, including antioxidant and antitumor, conferred by the compounds carnosic acid, carnosol and  rosmanol. The antioxidant effect related to these phenolic compounds prevents cellular oxidative stress and uncontrolled cell proliferation that could lead to cancer. Carnosic acid, in this regard, is known to exhibit effective anticancer activity against several tumor cell lines: leukemia and breast, prostate, lung and liver cancer. It is a molecule capable of inhibiting proliferation and the ability to migrate in human colorectal cells by inhibiting the activation of urokinase plasminogen, an enzyme responsible for the dissolution of fibrin clots, including cell migration and inflammation. In this review, the chemopreventive and antitumor actions of carnosic acid against melanoma, leukemia, colon, lung, prostate and liver cancer, neoplastic neuroblastoma and glioma cells were identifi ed.