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Pharmacognosy 2018
American Journal of Ethnomedicine
ISSN: 2348-9502
Page 67
April 16-17, 2018
Amsterdam, Netherlands
6
th
Edition of International Conference on
Pharmacognosy and
Medicinal Plants
Effects of high doses of lemon balm (Melissa officinalis L.) essential
oil onmice behavior and serumbiochemical parameters
Nikola Stojanovic, Dusan Sokolovic, Pavle Randjelovic, Marko Mladenovic
and
Niko Radulovic
University of Niš, Serbia
Statement of the Problem:
The essential oil of
Melissa officinalis
leaves is held in high esteem for its use in aromatherapy; however,
due to the low yield of the essential oil, its production cost is very
high. A myriad of beneficial biological activities of this essential
oil was reported and its composition has been extensively studied.
Strangely, up to date, no studies exist on the acute toxicity of this
essential oil. Prompted by this, in this work, the toxicity of orally
administered M. officinalis essential oil was assessed.
Methodology & Theoretical Orientation:
The hydrodistilled
essential oil used in the current study was obtained from fresh
plantmaterial(leaves,yield0.087%,w/w)andthedetailedanalyses
(GC and GC/MS) showed that the tested essential oil contained
high amounts of geranial (22.1%), neral (17.6%), citronellal (4.2%),
nerol (1.3%) and geraniol (1.2%), as expected for M. officinalis (3).
The acute toxicity was evaluated in female BALB/cmice that were
orally treated with the essential oil (in the dose range 0.5-3 g/kg).
During a 24-h period, the animals’ behavior was monitored, and
after that, the survived animals were sacrificed and, in their sera,
liver damage-related parameters were evaluated.
Findings:
Doses over 1 g/kg decreased animal movement,
produced abdominal writhings, tumbling, atony, spastic
movements and in some cases muscle rigidity. All these
symptoms were dose dependent and could probably be brought
in connection with the amount of citronellal in the applied doses.
Serum levels of ALT and AST, as well as their ratio (AST/ALT),
increasedwith the applied essential oil in doses>1 g/kg, indicating
liver toxicity.
Conclusion &Significance:
In conclusion, by causing awide panel
of both behavioral alterations and changes in serum biochemical
parameters in mice, M. officinalis essential oil can be deemed as
being moderately toxic.
Recent Publications
1. Ajayi C O, Elujoba A A and Adepiti A O (2015)
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Nikola Stojanovic et al., Am J Ethnomed 2018, Volume 5
DOI: 10.21767/2348-9502-C1-006