Olive oil in pharmacological and cosmetic traditions

Abstract

Among the numerous natural substances used in medical remedies, oil certainly plays an important role and, over the centuries, there have been many functions and properties attributed to it. We present the processes that have seen it as protagonist in the pharmacological field and in the cosmetic field. K E Y W O R D S

Epigenetic treatment of dermatologic disorders

“…Nrf2‐activating compounds are becoming staple ingredients in topically applied skin‐conditioning creams and other formulations that mitigate skin damage (Ahmed, ; Ben‐Nun, ; Braidy et al, ; Burke, ; Davinelli, Nielsen, & Scapagnini, ; Gorini et al, ; Huang, Wang, Yang, Chou, & Fang, ; Kocot, Kiełczykowska, Luchowska‐Kocot, Kurzepa, & Musik, ; Kunnumakkara et al, ; Lephart, ; Ríos, Giner, Marín, & Recio, ; Rodríguez‐Luna et al, ; Simitzis, ; Vega et al, , ; Vollmer et al, ; Yang et al, ; Yokota, Yahagi, & Masaki, ), promote skin repair (Bellot et al, ; Davinelli, Nielsen, & Scapagnini, ; Ferreira & Gomes, ; Kim et al, ; Yang et al, ), and enhance diabetic‐associated wound healing (Bellot et al, ; Ben‐Nun, ; Cuadrado et al, ; Ferreira & Gomes, ; Gorini et al, ; Huang et al, ; Kim et al, ; Kocot et al, ; Kunnumakkara et al, ; Panahi et al, ; Ríos et al, ; Sanchez, Lancel, Boulanger, & Neviere, ; Vega et al, ; Vega et al, ; Vollmer et al, ). With respect to the latter, almost a third of the world's population is considered to be overweight or obese (González‐Muniesa et al, ) and the percentage is rising to epidemic proportions (Blaszczak et al, ; Severin, Sabbahi, Mahmoud, Arena, & Phillips, ).…”

“…Nrf2-activating compounds are becoming staple ingredients in topically applied skin-conditioning creams and other formulations that mitigate skin damage (Ahmed, 2019;Ben-Nun, 2018;Braidy et al, 2019;Burke, 2018;Davinelli, Nielsen, & Scapagnini, 2018;Gorini et al, 2019;Huang, Wang, Yang, Chou, & Fang, 2018;Kocot, Kiełczykowska, Luchowska-Kocot, Kurzepa, & Musik, 2018;Kunnumakkara et al, 2017;Lephart, 2018;Ríos, Giner, Marín, & Recio, 2018;Rodríguez-Luna et al, 2018;Simitzis, 2018;Vega et al, 2017Vega et al, , 2018Vollmer et al, 2018;Yokota, Yahagi, & Masaki, 2018), promote skin repair (Bellot et al, 2019;Davinelli, Nielsen, & Scapagnini, 2018;Ferreira & Gomes, 2018;, and enhance diabeticassociated wound healing (Bellot et al, 2019;Ben-Nun, 2018;Cuadrado et al, 2019;Ferreira & Gomes, 2018;Gorini et al, 2019;Huang et al, 2018;Kocot et al, 2018;Kunnumakkara et al, 2017;Panahi et al, 2019;Ríos et al, 2018;Sanchez, Lancel, Boulanger, & Neviere, 2018;Vega et al, 2017;Vega et al, 2018;Vollmer et al, 2018).…”

“…It is an organ that requires protection, hygienic attention, and care. Athletes competing in the Olympics of the ancient world massaged their body with olive oil and then scraped off the excess oil with a curved blade instrument known as a strigil (Gorini, Iorio, Ciliberti, Licata, & Armocida, 2019;Nomikos, 2010;Nomikos, Nomikos, & Kores, 2010). Besides cleansing the skin and making it aesthetically pleasing with shine and luster, the ancient ritual had protective medicinal and therapeutic value in mitigating skin-related injuries brought about in the various competitions of that era (Caramia, Gori, Valli, & Cerretani, 2012;Nomikos, 2010;Nomikos et al, 2010).…”

“…Besides cleansing the skin and making it aesthetically pleasing with shine and luster, the ancient ritual had protective medicinal and therapeutic value in mitigating skin-related injuries brought about in the various competitions of that era (Caramia, Gori, Valli, & Cerretani, 2012;Nomikos, 2010;Nomikos et al, 2010). Antimicrobial and other bioactive components inherent in olive oil (Chiou & Kalogeropoulos, 2017;Das & Satyaprakash, 2018;Gorini et al, 2019;Simitzis, 2018;Wani et al, 2018) may also have protected the injured skin from opportunistic infections such as Mycobacterium leprae, the causative agent of leprosy (Hansen's disease) (Hanumanthayya, Manjunath, Yadav, & Balasubrahmanyam, 2017;Legendre, Muzny, & Swiatlo, 2012;Sari, Widasmara, & Kurniawan, 2018;Tsoucalas, Krasagakis, Pantos, & Karamanou, 2018).…”

“…Recent studies show that natural products normally present in olive oil, such as polyphenols ( Figure 1) (ALHaithloul, Alotaibi, Bin-Jumah, Elgebaly, & Mahmoud, 2019;Capurso, Crepaldi, & Capurso, 2018a;Ichihashi et al, 2018;Kabaran, 2018;Wani et al, 2018), may contribute to olive oil's overall therapeutic characteristics by activating epigenetic gene expression pathways (ALHaithloul et al, 2019;Arpón et al, 2017;Ben-Nun, 2018;Capurso, Crepaldi, & Capurso, 2018b;Caramia et al, 2012;Ichihashi et al, 2018;Kabaran, 2018;Kouka et al, 2018;Nanda, Mahmood, Bhatia, Mahmood, & Dhawan, 2018;Rigacci & Stefani, 2016). As alluded to above, the use of olive oil formulations and (other plant oils and extracts) (Das & Satyaprakash, 2018;Vaughn, Clark, Sivamani, & Shi, 2017) to treat skin disorders traces back to antiquity (Hippocrates, 460BCE; Ali, Fox, & Finlayson, 2013;Das & Satyaprakash, 2018;Gorini et al, 2019;Tsoucalas et al, 2018). Principally, such disorders include atopic dermatitis (eczema, a chronic inflammatory skin disease affecting 10-20% of the general population) (Balato et al, 2019;Zaidi, Hussain, & Sudhakaran, 2019) and psoriasis (a chronic immunemediated inflammatory skin condition (Brajac & Gruber, 2012;Grayson, 2012;Perera, Di Meglio, & Nestle, 2012) that affects about 2-3% of adults in the United States) (Belge, Brück, & Ghoreschi, 2014;Kaushik & Lebwohl, 2019;Kim & Lebwohl, 2019;Weigle & McBane, 2013).…”