Active caspase-3 detection to evaluate apoptosis induced by Verbena officinalis essential oil and citral in chronic lymphocytic leukaemia cells

Verbena officinalis L., Verbenaceae, commonly known as vervain, is a plant widely used in medicine. Despite of its widespread use in different traditional practices, the mechanisms of pharmacological actions of the plant and its volatile oil are still unclear. We evaluated the pro-apoptotic activity of V. officinalis essential oil and of its main component, citral, on lymphocytes collected from ten patients with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL), a disease in which a faulty apoptotic mechanism is still retained one of the primary pathogenic events, by adding to treated mononuclear cells, annexin-V, propidium iodide, and CD19. Apoptosis was also evaluated using anti-active-caspase-3 monoclonal antibody after permeabilization of the cells. Both V. officinalis essential oil and citral were found able to induce apoptosis in CLL cells and to activate caspase-3, which is considered the way by means they active apoptosis in B neoplastic cells. This data further support evidences that indicate natural compounds as possible lead structure to develop new therapeutic agents for CLL.