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Abstract
Ayurveda, an ancient and comprehensive system of natural medicine, recommends regular
topical application to the skin of sesame oil, above all other oils, as a health-promoting
procedure. We examined the effect of sesame oil and several other vegetable oils and
their major component fatty acids on the proliferation rate of human normal and malignant
melanocytes growing at similar rates in serum-free media. We found that sesame and
safflower oils, both of which contain large amounts of linoleate in triglyceride form,
selectively inhibited malignant melanoma growth over normal melanocytes whereas coconut,
olive and mineral oils, which contain little or no linoleate as triglyceride, did
not. These oils were tested at a range of 10–300 μg/ml. We found that of the fatty
acids tested, only linoleic acid was selectively inhibitory while palmitic and oleic
were not. These fatty acids were tested in the range of 3–100 μg/ml. These results
suggest that certain vegetable oils rich in linoleic acid, such as the sesame oil,
recommended for topical use by Ayurveda, may contain selective antineoplastic properties
which are similar to those demonstrated for essential polyunsaturated fatty acids
and their metabolites. This suggests that whole vegetable oils may have potential
clinical usefulness.
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Article info
Publication history
Accepted:
November 13,
1991
Received:
August 13,
1991
Identification
Copyright
© 1992 Published by Elsevier Inc.
