Aloe vera extract

Study conducted in animals found that the leaf extract of A. Vera and its active ingredient aloin induced powerful, dose-dependent, physiologically significant melanin aggregating effects leading to skin lightening via adrenergic receptor stimulation.[32] Aloe vera extract is an ingredient of various market preparations

32. Ali SA, Galgut JM, Choudhary RK. On the novel action of melanolysis by a leaf extract of Aloe vera and its active ingredient aloin, potent skin depigmenting agents. Planta Med. 2012;78:767–71. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Alpha tocopherol (Vitamin E)

Vitamin E is the major lipophilic antioxidant in plasma, membranes, and tissues. The term “vitamin E” includes eight naturally occurring molecules (four tocopherols and four tocotrienols) that have vitamin E activity. In humans, alpha tocopherol is the most abundant vitamin E derivative, followed by gamma tocopherol.[25]

Controlled studies with vitamin E show insufficient evidence of effectiveness in treatment of specific dermatologic disorders. However, there is a large body of experimental evidence proving its photo-protective effects. It has been shown to cause depigmentation by interference with lipid peroxidation of melanocyte membranes, increase in intracellular glutathione content, and inhibition of tyrosinase.[26] Another clinical double-blinded study showed a significant improvement of melasma and pigmented contact dermatitis lesions using topical vitamins E and C, with the combination showing better results compared to the single-vitamin treatment groups.[27] Although, topical alpha-tocopherol is mostly used at concentration of 5% or less, products with varying concentrations have been marketed. Side-effects such as allergic or irritant reactions are rare with topical vitamin E and hence, it is a component of cosmeceuticals preparations

25. Thiele JJ, Hsieh SN, Ekanayake-Mudiyanselage S. Vitamin E: Critical review of its current use in cosmetic and clinical dermatology. Dermatol Surg. 2005;31:805–13. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

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27. Hayakawa R, Ueda H, Nozaki T, Izawa Y, Yokotake J, Yazaki K, et al. Effects of combination treatment with vitamins E and C on chloasma and pigmented contact dermatitis. A double blind controlled clinical trial. Acta Vitaminol Enzymol. 1981;3:31–8. [PubMed] [Google Scholar

Antimicrobial activity of TVEO

Essential oil extracted from TV and its principle component thymol possess a wide range of activity against different types of bacteria and fungi compared with the other oils both in vitro and in vivo studies.^31,32,33,34 Several studies had indicated that thyme and thymol have strong antimicrobial activities against various types of bacteria such as Helicobacter pylori, Salmonella typhimurium, Staphylococcus aureus, Selenomonasartemidis, Porphyromonas gingivalis, Streptococcus mutans and Streptococcus sobrinus.^35,36 The antimicrobial effect was related to the ability of thyme to penetrate the bacterial plasma membrane; causing efflux of intracellular constituents and hence leads to cell death. Likewise, other studies reported a strong antibacterial activity of thymol against certain types of fungi and yeast such as Aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus parasiticus and Candida albicans. ^37,38

Moreover, Marino et al.³⁹ analyzed the thyme oils for their growth inhibition properties against certain strains of both Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria. It was observed that all examined thyme essential oils had a strong antimicrobial effect against both types of bacteria. The TV essential oil is considered highly effective in inhibiting the growth of various species of bacteria. An additional study conducted by Nolkemper et al.⁴⁰ demonstrated that this oil exhibited inhibitory effect against various types of viruses such as Herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) and an acyclovir-resistant strain of HSV-1.

Antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects of TVEO

In animal models and in vitro studies, thyme oil and thymol have been shown to exhibit strong antioxidant activities. Moreover, the contained flavonoids were shown to prevent the release of superoxide anion and to protect erythrocytes from oxidative stress. Thymol and caracole also exerted anti-inflammatory effects by inhibiting the synthesis of prostaglandin. ^{41, 42, 43, 44}

31.Lai P. K and Roy J. Antimicrobial and chemopreventive properties of herbs and spices. Current medicinal chemistry, 2004; 11(11): 1451-1460.‏

32.Mitsch P, Zitterl-Eglseer K, Köhler B, Gabler C, Losa R and Zimpernik I. The effect of two different blends of essential oil components on the proliferation of Clostridium perfringens in the intestines of broiler chickens. Poultry science, 2004; 83(4): 669-675.‏

33.Penalver P, Huerta B, Borge C, Astorga R, Romero R and Perea A. Antimicrobial activity of five essential oils against origin strains of the Enterobacteriaceae family. Apmis, 2005; 113(1): 1-6.‏

34.Al-Bayati F. A. Synergistic antibacterial activity between Thymus vulgaris and Pimpinellaanisum essential oils and methanol extracts. Journal of ethnopharmacology, 2008; 116(3): 403-406.‏

•  Manou I, Bouillard L, Devleeschouwer M. J and Barel A. O. Evaluation of the preservative properties of Thymus vulgaris essential oil in topically applied formulations under a challenge test. Journal of Applied Microbiology, 1998; 84(3): 368-376.‏
•  Ceyhan N and Ugur A. Investigation of in vitro antimicrobial activity of honey. Rivista di biologia, 2001; 94(2): 363-371.‏
•  Arras G and Usai M. Fungitoxic activity of 12 essential oils against four postharvest citrus pathogens: chemical analysis of Thymus capitatus oil and its effect in subatmospheric pressure conditions. Journal of Food Protection, 2001; 64(7): 1025-1029.‏
• Inouye S, Uchida K and Yamaguchi H. In vitro and in vivo anti Trichophyton activity of essential oils by vapour contact. Mycoses, 2001; 44(3‐4): 99-107.‏
• Marino M, Bersani C and Comi G. Antimicrobial activity of the essential oils of Thymus vulgaris L. measured using a bioimpedometric method. Journal of food protection, 1999; 62(9): 1017-1023.‏
• Nolkemper S, Reichling J, Stintzing F. C, Carle R and Schnitzler P. Antiviral effect of aqueous extracts from species of the Lamiaceae family against Herpes simplex virus type 1 and type 2 in vitro. Plantamedica, 2006; 72(15): 1378-1382.
• Youdim K. A and Deans S. G. Effect of thyme oil and thymol dietary supplementation on the antioxidant status and fatty acid composition of the ageing rat brain. British Journal of Nutrition, 2000; 83(1): 87-93.‏
• Nickavar B, Mojab F and Dolat-Abadi R. Analysis of the essential oils of two Thymus species from Iran. Food chemistry, 2005; 90(4): 609-611.‏
• El-Nekeety A. A, Mohamed S. R, Hathout A. S, Hassan N. S, Aly S. E and Abdel-Wahhab M. A. Antioxidant properties of Thymus vulgaris oil against aflatoxin-induce oxidative stress in male rats. Toxicon, 2011; 57(7-8): 984-991.‏
• Amiri H. Essential oils composition and antioxidant properties of three thymus species. Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine, 2012

SCIENTIFIC EVALUATION OF CHAMOMILE:

Anti-inflammatory and antiphlogistic properties

The flowers of chamomile contain 1–2% volatile oils including alpha-bisabolol, alpha-bisabolol oxides A & B, and matricin (usually converted to chamazulene and other flavonoids which possess anti-inflammatory and antiphlogistic properties (12, 19, 35, 36). A study in human volunteers demonstrated that chamomile flavonoids and essential oils penetrate below the skin surface into the deeper skin layers (37). This is important for their use as topical antiphlogistic (anti-inflammatory) agents. One of chamomile’s anti-inflammatory activities involve the inhibition of LPS-induced prostaglandin E(2) release and attenuation of cyclooxygenase (COX-2) enzyme activity without affecting the constitutive form, COX-1 (38)

12. Lemberkovics E, Kéry A, Marczal G, Simándi B, Szöke E. Phytochemical evaluation of essential oils, medicinal plants and their preparations. Acta Pharm Hung. 1998;68:141–149. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

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35. Sakai H, Misawa M. Effect of sodium azulene sulfonate on capsaicin-induced pharyngitis in rats. Basic Clin Pharmacol Toxicol. 2005;96:54–55. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

36. Peña D, Montes de Oca N, Rojas S. Anti-inflammatory and anti-diarrheic activity of Isocarpha cubana Blake. Pharmacologyonline. 2006;3:744–749. [Google Scholar]

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38. Srivastava JK, Pandey M, Gupta S. Chamomile, a novel and selective Cox-2 inhibitor with anti-inflammatory activity. Life Sci. 2009;85:663–669. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

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Topical application of sesame oil

Topical application of sesame oil could reduce pain severity and frequency of received NSAIDs in patients with upper or lower extremities trauma. Therefore, it is recommended to use this oil in complementary medicine for pain relief due to low cost, easy usage and lack of adverse effects [13]

13. Dijkstra BM, Berben SA, van Dongen RT, Schoonhoven L. Review on pharmacological pain management in trauma patients in (pre-hospital) emergency medicine in the Netherlands. Eur J Pain. 2014;18(1):3–19. doi: 10.1002/j.1532-2149.2013.00337.x. [PubMed] [CrossRef] [Google Scholar]

Antineoplastic Properties of Olive Oil

Researchers reported anticancer properties of olive leaf extract in an animal skin cancer model. The extract caused cancer cell death, starting with early apoptosis and completing by the following necrosis [63,64]. Polyphenols from olive leaf extract showed synergistic effects as combined with standard chemotherapeutic agents [63]

There are pleiotropic effects of olive oil polyphenols, as observed on the molecular level. It seems however that the antioxidant potential of olive oil is the primary factor contributing to protection against cancer [72,73].

The action mechanism of polyphenols is pleiotropic, however, it mostly relates to their antioxidant activity. Natural polyphenols decrease the level of reactive oxygen species protecting biomolecules against oxidative damage. They are also found to modulate the human immune system, affecting proliferation of the white blood cells and the production of cytokines

63. Mijatovic S.A., Timotijevic G.S., Miljkovic D.M., Radovic J.M., Maksimovic-Ivanic D.D., Dekanski D.P., Stosic-Grujicic S.D. Multiple antimelanoma potential of dry olive leaf extract. Int. J. Cancer. 2011;128:1955–1965. doi: 10.1002/ijc.25526. [PubMed] [CrossRef] [Google Scholar]

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72. Visioli F., Galli C., Bornet F., Mattei A., Patelli R., Galli G., Caruso D. Olive oil phenolics are dose-dependently absorbed in humans. FEBS Lett. 2000;468:159–160. doi: 10.1016/S0014-5793(00)01216-3. [PubMed] [CrossRef] [Google Scholar]

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