Study of the Cytotoxic Activity of Haarlem Oil on Different Cell Lines and a Higher Organism, <em>Steinernema feltiae</em>

Haarlem oil (HO) is a semisynthetic product made by combining terpene oil and sulfur atoms at high temperatures. HO contains organosulfur compounds; these compounds are known to have strong antioxidant properties, such as superoxide dismutase (SOD). This study provides a brief overview of the effects of HO cytotoxicity on several cell lines using several cytotoxicity test methods. The crystal violet (CV) staining assay showed that HO had a strong toxic effect on the A549 cell line. The test results of the trypan blue and celltiter-Glo assay methods showed that HO has a strong cytotoxic effect on HL-60 cells. The results of the MTT and XTT assays indicated that HO produced a fairly strong toxic effect on HL-60 cells and U937 cells. A hoechst staining assay showed that HO was able to increase (induce) apoptotic cell levels and reduce mitotic cell levels after 24 hours of incubation. However, in this study, we were not able to detect any effect of HO on activation and inhibition of the K562 cell line through the NF-κB pathway. Meanwhile, the live and dead assay showed that HO tends to cause apoptosis. The nematicidal assay showed that HO showed moderate activity against Steinernema feltiae.