SUPPRESSION OF SENSORY IRRITATION BY CHAMOMILE ESSENTIAL OIL AND ITS ACTIVE COMPONENT – BISABOLOLOXIDE A

Oral intake of the ethyl acetate extract or essential oil of German chamomile (Matricaria recutita L.) showed strong suppressive effects on the compound 48/80-induced pruritus which could not be perfectly resolved alone by conventional antihistamines.
Since desensitization of sensory neuron by resiniferatoxin treatment showed similar efficacy in the same test, we postulate that German chamomile suppresses sensory irritation.
In this study, we demonstrate that German chamomile essential oil (bisabololoxide A type) had remarkable suppressive effects on the sensory irritation caused by capsaicin.
The intradermal injection of capsaicin in mice paw induced dose-dependent paw-licking behavior by sensory irritation, and the co-administration of German chamomile essential oil suppressed the capsaicin-induced paw-licking dose-dependently in the range of 1-5%. In the isolated guinea-pig ileum, German chamomile essential oil showed dose-dependent inhibition on the capsaicin-induced contraction.
Using these assays, we determined bisabololoxide A as the main anti-irritation principle of German chamomile oil.

I International Symposium on Chamomile Research, Development and Production

Y. Kobayashi, A. Suzuki, A. Kobayashi, A. Ayaka Kasai, Y. Ogata, Y. Kumada, R. Takahashi, F. Ogino

antipruritic, capsaicin, vanilloid receptor

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2007.749.17