Effect of Fragrance Inhalation of Grapefruit Essential Oil on Blood Pressure and Baroreflex Sensitivity in Human with, and without, Family History of Hypertension

Abstract

PurposeFragrance inhalation of essential oils used in aromatherapy can affect blood pressure (BP) and autonomic nervous system in humans. Considerably wide individual variations have been observed in the response, but the background factors behind the wide individual variations remain unknown. Previous studies have reported that resting circulatory variables and baroreflex sensitivity, and also the response of BP and muscle sympathetic nerve activity with mental stress and upright tilting are different between subjects with and without family history of hypertension (FH). We tested the hypothesis that the response of BP with fragrance inhalation of grapefruit essential oil (GF) was different between subjects with (FH+) and without FH (FH−).MethodsEighteen healthy subjects participated in this study (FH+, n = 8; FH−, n = 10). While subjects in the supine position, they breathed blank air through a face mask for 10 min as baseline (BL). Then, they inhaled air with the fragrance of GF from Douglas bags for 10 min. Beat‐by‐beat heart rate and BP were recorded continuously. Cardiovagal baroreflex sensitivity was determined with data for the last 2 min of each stage, as the slope of the liner regression between beat‐by‐beat changes in systolic BP and R‐R interval.ResultsAt 6 to 10 min of BL, heart rate, systolic and diastolic BP was not significantly different between FH+ group and FH− group. During GF inhalation, diastolic BP in FH− group increased significantly (p < 0.05) from BL whereas it remained unchanged in FH+ group. Systolic BP and heart rate remained unchanged during GF inhalation in both groups. There were no significant changes in baroreflex sensitivity with fragrance inhalation in both groups.ConclusionsThe FH is a possible background factor behind the individual variation observed in the response of BP with fragrance inhalation of GF.This abstract is from the Experimental Biology 2019 Meeting. There is no full text article associated with this abstract published in The FASEB Journal.