Abstract
BACKGROUND: In aromatherapy, essential oils are used as anti-inflammatory remedies, but experimental studies on their action mechanisms are very limited. AIMS OF THE STUDY: To assess their anti-inflammatory activities, the effects of essential oils on neutrophil recruitment in mice were examined in vivo. METHOD: The effect of essential oils on leukocyte and neutrophil recruitment induced 6 h after intraperitoneal injection of casein in mice was examined. RESULTS: Leukocyte recruitment into the peritoneal cavity in mice was suppressed by intraperitoneal injections of geranium, lemongrass and spearmint oils at the dose of 5 microl/mouse, but was not by tea tree oil. This recruitment was inhibited dose-dependently by geranium oil. The suppression of leukocyte recruitment resulted from inhibition of neutrophil accumulation. CONCLUSION: Some essential oils used as anti-inflammatory remedies suppress neutrophil recruitment into the peritoneal cavity in mice.
Highlights
Essential oils are a folk medicine and recently their use has expanded worldwide to include therapy against various kinds of inflammatory diseases, such as allergy, rheumatism, arthritis and bronchitis
Effects of geranium oil on leukocyte recruitment into the peritoneal cavity of mice lemongrass oil was most active, it is known to irritate mucosal tissues on contact,[10] so we further examined the activity of various doses of geranium oil
Neutrophils were the major part of casein-induced leukocytes of control and geranium-treated mice: 85Á/90% of the suspension taken from the peritoneal cavity was found to be neutrophils
Summary
Essential oils are a folk medicine and recently their use has expanded worldwide to include therapy against various kinds of inflammatory diseases, such as allergy, rheumatism, arthritis and bronchitis These activities have mainly been recognized through clinical experience, but have been little elucidated experimentally. We investigated the in vivo effects of the essential oils that showed suppressive activity against neutrophil adherence in vitro , on casein-induced neutrophil recruitment into the peritoneal cavity of mice. Results : Leukocyte recruitment into the peritoneal cavity in mice was suppressed by intraperitoneal injections of geranium, lemongrass and spearmint oils at the dose of 5 ml/mouse, but was not by tea tree oil. Conclusion : Some essential oils used as anti-inflammatory remedies suppress neutrophil recruitment into the peritoneal cavity in mice
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