Protective Effects of Grapefruit Essential Oil againstStaphylococcus Aureus‐Induced Inflammation and Cell Damage in Human Epidermal Keratinocytes

Abstract

Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) is a common skin pathogenic bacterium, over‐colonization can induce skin infections, while its metabolites can also produce irritation to the skin, often accompanied by eczema dermatitis, specific dermatitis and other skin diseases. Grapefruit essential oil is extracted from the fruit of grapefruit (Citrus maxima (Burm) Merr.), a citrus plant that is rich in flavonoids, phenolic acids and high flavanones. Due to its good odor and biological activity such as anti‐inflammatory, antibacterial, etc., grapefruit essential oil has been widely used as an additive in food. To evaluate the potential application of grapefruit essential oil as raw materials in cosmetics products and health foods, we developed a cell damage model of skin inflammation stimulated by S. aureus metabolites. Compared to that of lime essential oil, an internal control, we found that grapefruit essential oil could significantly promote HaCaT cells proliferation, reduce reactive oxygen species (ROS) production induced by S. aureus metabolites, inhibit the upregulated expression of IL‐1 and COX‐2. In the 3D epidermal model, grapefruit essential oil could recover the decreased LOR and FLG contents caused by S. aureus metabolites. These results demonstrated pharmacological evidence for the anti‐inflammatory effect of grapefruit essential oil, suggesting a potential application of grapefruit essential oil as cosmetic raw materials for repair and alleviating of skin inflammation caused by S. aureus.

Multiplicative Effects of Essential Oils and Other Active Components on Skin Tissue and Skin Cancers

“…The main component of citrus EO is limonene, an important anti-oxidant [48] and anti-inflammatory agent [49]. Inflammatory cell damage and reactive oxygen species (ROS) biosynthesis are inhibited by G-EO treatment through the downregulated expression of IL-1 and COX-2 in Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus)-exposed HaCaT keratinocytes [50]. These results indicate that G-EO exhibits a remarkable protective effect in HaCaT keratinocytes by inhibiting inflammatory-stimulus-mediated ROS production.…”

“…These results indicate that G-EO exhibits a remarkable protective effect in HaCaT keratinocytes by inhibiting inflammatory-stimulus-mediated ROS production. In addition, skin-barrier-structure-associated proteins, such as filaggrin (FLG) and loricrin, are found to be recovered by treatment with G-EO in an S. aureus-degraded 3D skin model [50].…”

Biology of cyclooxygenase-2: An application in depression therapeutics

“…And studies have found that neuroinflammation, common in the brains of depressed patients, has a strong impact on ROS production, and there is evidence that inflammatory factors increase the risk of depression (96). Among these, there is a positive correlation between the expression level of the inflammatory factor COX-2 and ROS concentration (97)(98)(99)). An increasing number of studies have shown that inflammation leads to increased ROS production and that mitochondrial oxidative stress plays an important role in the pathophysiology of depression (78,100).…”