COMPARATIVE STUDY
JOURNAL ARTICLE
Add like
Add dislike
Add to saved papers

Limonene from Agastache mexicana essential oil produces antinociceptive effects, gastrointestinal protection and improves experimental ulcerative colitis.

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGY RELEVANCE: Agastache mexicana is a popular plant of great demand in folk medicine, essentially due to its calming properties and for alleviating arthritic, muscular and abdominal pain. Despite its spectrum for pain relief, pharmacological studies of its bioactive constituents have been barely investigated.

AIM OF THE STUDY: To evaluate protective properties of the A. mexicana and bioactive compounds improving pathological gastrointestinal conditions in rodents.

MATERIAL AND METHODS: Different doses of the essential oil of A. mexicana ssp. mexicana and ssp. xolocotziana (30-562.2 mg/kg, i.p.) and individual monoterpenes (3-300 mg/kg, i.p.) were evaluated in an abdominal pain model. The most active monoterpene limonene and sulfasalazine (reference drug, 100 mg/kg, p.o.) were also evaluated in the oxazolone-induced colitis model using an oral gavage, where some inflammatory cytokines were analyzed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays. Finally, colonic histological assessment and gastroprotection in the absolute ethanol-induced ulcer model were explored.

RESULTS: Our results demonstrated that the essential oil of both subspecies produced a significant reduction in the abdominal writhes, where monoterpenes limonene and pulegone were partially responsible bioactive metabolites. Limonene showed the major antinociceptive efficacy in the writhing test. It also significantly decreased hyperalgesia, pathological biomarkers, and colonic inflammatory cytokines in the oxazolone-induced colitis model, as well as prevention in gastric damage.

CONCLUSIONS: Present results provide scientific evidence to reinforce the use of A. mexicana in the traditional medicine for gastrointestinal conditions, mainly related to pain and inflammation, demonstrating the potential of monoterpenes as natural products in the therapeutics of gastrointestinal affections such as ulcer, colitis, and abdominal pain.

Full text links

We have located links that may give you full text access.
Can't access the paper?
Try logging in through your university/institutional subscription. For a smoother one-click institutional access experience, please use our mobile app.

For the best experience, use the Read mobile app

Mobile app image

Get seemless 1-tap access through your institution/university

For the best experience, use the Read mobile app

All material on this website is protected by copyright, Copyright © 1994-2024 by WebMD LLC.
This website also contains material copyrighted by 3rd parties.

By using this service, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy.

Your Privacy Choices Toggle icon

You can now claim free CME credits for this literature searchClaim now

Get seemless 1-tap access through your institution/university

For the best experience, use the Read mobile app