June 05, 2015
a
Centro de Estudos Farmacêuticos/Faculdade de Farmácia, Pólo das
Ciências da Saúde, Azinhaga de Santa Comba, Universidade de Coimbra,
3000-548 Coimbra, Portugal
b Centro de Estudos Interdisciplinares do Século XX da Universidade de Coimbra - CEIS20, Rua Filipe Simões n 33, 3000-186 Coimbra, Portugal
c Centro de Neurociências e Biologia Celular e Faculdade de Farmácia, Pólo das Ciências da Saúde, Azinhaga de Santa Comba, Universidade de Coimbra, 3000-295 Coimbra, Portugal
b Centro de Estudos Interdisciplinares do Século XX da Universidade de Coimbra - CEIS20, Rua Filipe Simões n 33, 3000-186 Coimbra, Portugal
c Centro de Neurociências e Biologia Celular e Faculdade de Farmácia, Pólo das Ciências da Saúde, Azinhaga de Santa Comba, Universidade de Coimbra, 3000-295 Coimbra, Portugal
Abstract
Thymus L. is one of
the most aromatic and medicinal plants used worldwide, mainly due to its
essential oils. Several species of Thymus are currently used in herbal
medicine for the prevention and treatment of various diseases,
including disorders of the respiratory, gastrointestinal and nervous
system. Moreover, they are widely used by their flavor as condiment and
food preservatives, and a wide range of biological and therapeutic
properties have been reported for this genus.The aim of the present
research was to evaluate the anti-inflammatory activity of Thymus zygis
L. subsp. sylvestris (Hoffmanns. & Link) Cout. oil and its major
compounds and, of utmost importance, assess their safety profile in
several mammalian cell types at concentrations presenting strong
bioactivity.This oil is characterized by high percentage of two phenolic
compounds (thymol 19.5% and carvacrol 16.3%) and their biochemical
precursor (p-cymene 22.0%). Interestingly, this is the first paper
reporting high amounts of those phenols in the same sample of T. zygis
subsp. sylvestris from Portugal.The
anti-inflammatory potential was investigated in lipopolysaccharide
(LPS)-triggered nitric oxide (NO) production by macrophages and
microglia concomitantly treated with T. zygis subsp. sylvestris
essential oil. Our results demonstrated a significant decrease of
LPS-induced NO production at concentrations up to 0.32 and 0.16. μL/mL,
respectively, without affecting cell viability.These results confirm the
safety of T. zygis subsp. sylvestris oil and thus its suitability to be
used as condiment and food preservative. Furthermore, the
anti-inflammatory activity attributable to the essential oil supports
further studies envisaging its putative use in pharmaceutical
formulations for inhalation, topical application or oral administration.
© 2015 The Authors.
Author keywords
Anti-inflammatory activity; Cytotoxicity; Essential oil; Thymus zygis subsp. sylvestris
Indexed keywords
Engineering controlled terms: Cytotoxicity; Food preservatives; Mammals; Medical applications; Nitric oxide; Oils and fats; Phenols; Thymus
Anti-inflammatories; Anti-inflammatory activity;
Chemical compositions; Oral administration; Pharmaceutical formulation;
Therapeutic properties; Thymus zygis subsp. sylvestris; Topical
application
Engineering main heading: Essential oils
