Abstract
Lavender essential oil is traditionally used and approved by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) as herbal medicine to relieve stress and anxiety. Some animal and clinical studies reveal positive results in models of anxiety and depression although very little research has been done on molecular mechanisms. Our work consisted of evaluating the effects of lavender (Lavandula angustifolia) essential oil on central nervous system well-established targets, such as MAO-A, SERT, GABAAand NMDA receptors as well as in vitro models of neurotoxicity. The results showed that lavender essential oil and its main components exert affinity for the glutamate NMDA-receptor in a dose-dependent manner with an IC50 value of 0.04 μl/mL for lavender oil. In addition, lavender and linalool were also able to bind the serotonin transporter (SERT) whereas they did not show affinity for GABAA-benzodiazepine receptor. In three different models of neurotoxicity, lavender did not enhance the neurotoxic insult and improved viability of SH-SY5Y cells treated with hydrogen peroxide. According to our data, the anxiolytic and antidepressant-like effects attributed to lavender may be due to an antagonism on the NMDA-receptor and inhibition of SERT. This study suggests that lavender essential oil may exert pharmacological properties via modulating the NMDA receptor, the SERT as well as neurotoxicity induced by hydrogen peroxide.
Highlights
Essential oils have a long tradition in pharmaceutical sciences as natural products with pharmacological, cosmetic, agrochemical and nutritional applications (Bakkali et al, 2008)
With the aim to contribute to evidence-based herbal medicine we have studied the effects of lavender essential oil on pharmacological targets involved in anxiolytic and antidepressive properties as well as in vitro models of neurotoxicity
The essential oils are chemically characterized by Pranarom International, Lavender Essential Oil (LEO) was analyzed in the laboratory by GC-MS on an Agilent 6890N Network GC system coupled to a 5973 Network Mass Selective Detector, accelerating voltage 69.9 eV, recoding masses of 35.00–400.00
Summary
Essential oils have a long tradition in pharmaceutical sciences as natural products with pharmacological, cosmetic, agrochemical and nutritional applications (Bakkali et al, 2008). The use of EO in form of aromatherapy or phytotherapy is widely extended, some of them being used as agents to relieve anxiety and stress (Setzer, 2009). Phytotherapy consists of the use of medicinal plants in order to prevent, cure or threat illnesses. Aromatherapy can be understood as a subdivision of phytotherapy and defined as the use of essential oils regarding therapeutic effects
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