Cytotoxicity of lavender oil and its major components to human skin cells

Abstract

Lavender (Lavandula angustifolia) oil, chiefly composed of linalyl acetate (51%) and linalool (35%), is considered to be one of the mildest of known plant essential oils and has a history in wound healing. Concerns are building about the potential for irritant or allergenic skin reactions with the use of lavender oil. This study has demonstrated that lavender oil is cytotoxic to human skin cells in vitro (endothelial cells and fibroblasts) at a concentration of 0.25% (v/v) in all cell types tested (HMEC-1, HNDF and 153BR). The major components of the oil, linalyl acetate and linalool, were also assayed under similar conditions for their cytotoxicity. The activity of linalool reflected that of the whole oil, indicating that linalool may be the active component of lavender oil. Linalyl acetate cytotoxicity was higher than that of the oil itself, suggesting suppression of its activity by an unknown factor in the oil. Membrane damage is proposed as the possible mechanism of action.

Major components of orange oil inhibit Staphylococcus aureus growth and biofilm formation, and alter its virulence factors

“…Therefore, concentrations of 0.02 % and 0.04 % citral are probably safe for in vivo use. Linalool has also been tested for cytotoxicity in a previous study, but again on human skin cells (Prashar et al, 2004. Previous results are consistent with our own; in the former a large increase in cytotoxicity occured between 0.125 % and 0.25 % (Prashar et al, 2004). We found a large increase in relative cytotoxicity between 0.12 % linalool (relative cytotoxicity of 31.9 %) and 0.24 % linalool (relative cytotoxicity of 72.4 %).…”

Essential oil of Daucus carota subsp. halophilus: Composition, antifungal activity and cytotoxicity

“…Other essential oils have been demonstrated to be cytotoxic. For instance, lavender oil is cytotoxic to human skin cells in vitro (endothelial cells and fibroblasts) at a concentration of 0.25% (v/v) (Prashar et al, 2004). To our knowledge, the effect of the essential oil of Daucus carota subsp.…”

“…Accordingly, in a previous publication, elemicin revealed a marked antimicrobial activity against Campylobacter jejuni (Rossi et al, 2007a). However, some essential oil doses that have the ability to completely inhibit fungal growth showed also relatively high cytotoxicity to different types of cells cultured in vitro, in a dose-dependent manner (Prashar et al, 2004;Dijoux et al, 2006;Fabian et al, 2006;Horváthová et al, 2006). For example, lemon myrtle oil was shown to possess significant antimicrobial activity against different organisms.…”

Bioinformatical andin vitroapproaches to essential oil-induced matrix metalloproteinase inhibition

“…The four essential oils selected for the present study had either a weak antibacterial effect or no effect. Even though possible antibacterial effects could be found upon treatment with higher concentrations of essential oils, those concentrations could also be cytotoxic against host cells (Prashar et al, 2004). Microbes are able to generate defense mechanisms against natural antimicrobial compounds, for example, by degrading monoterpenes in anaerobic conditions (Harder & Probian, 1995) .…”