Abstract
Background Therapy combination is defined as disease treatment with two or more medication to acheive efficacy with lower doses or lower toxicity. Regarding its reported toxicities and efficacy, the Essential Oils (EOs) from Syzygium aromaticum (SA) and Pelargonium graveolens (PG) were combined for in vitro and in vivo assays and toxicities.
Methods The Essential Oils and mixture were tested for in vivo/in vitro antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities. The assays included the animal model of acute inflammation (carrageenan model), the protective effect on H2O2/Sodium nitroprissude induced stress in Tetrahymena pyriformis, and the in vitro antioxidant assays.
Results The chemical analysis of the investigated Oils has lead to the identification of Eugenol (74.06%), Caryophyllene (11.52%) and Carvacrol acetate (7.82%) as the major element in SA; while PG was much higher in Citronellol (30.77%), 10-epi-γ-Eudesmol (22.59%), and Geraniol (13.95%). In our pharmacological screening of samples, both Oils demonstrated good antioxidant effects. In vivo investigation of the antioxidant activity in the protozoa model (T. pyriformis) demonstrated a lesser toxic effect of EOs mixture with no significant differences when oxidative stress markers and antioxidant enzymes (MDA, SOD and CAT) were evaluated. On the other hand the in vivo model of inflammatory response to carrageenan demonstrated a good inhibitory potential of both EOs. The EOs Mixture demonstrated equivalent bioactivity with lower toxic effect and minimal risk for each compound.
Conclusions The results from this study indicate that EOs mixture from SA and PG demonstrated promising modulatory antioxidant/anti-inflammatory effect, which suggest an efficient association for therapy.
