The biological and pharmacological activity of essential oils in the treatment and prevention of infectious diseases
Despite the large progress in medicine and pharmacy in the last few decades, traditional treatment of bacterial or viral diseases is frequently ineffective and is connected with some side effects. Currently, there is observed an increasing interest in natural plant-derived substances as a potential...
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Index Copernicus International S.A.
2013-09-01
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doaj-fc6673ce332247a281b4aaf3bc2ec80a2020-11-24T20:44:04ZengIndex Copernicus International S.A.Postępy Higieny i Medycyny Doświadczalnej0032-54491732-26932013-09-01678636881000100710.5604/17322693.1067687 The biological and pharmacological activity of essential oils in the treatment and prevention of infectious diseasesSylwia Katarzyna KrólKrystyna Skalicka-WoźniakMartyna Kandefer-SzerszeńAndrzej StepulakDespite the large progress in medicine and pharmacy in the last few decades, traditional treatment of bacterial or viral diseases is frequently ineffective and is connected with some side effects. Currently, there is observed an increasing interest in natural plant-derived substances as a potential and promising group of medicines in prevention and treatment of several infectious diseases. Terpenes and their derivatives are a large class of natural organic components of essential oils and are widespread in the plant kingdom. Numerous experimental studies have shown that essential oils exhibit a large spectrum of biological and pharmacological activities in vitro. Herbal essential oils have been proved to possess antimicrobial, antiviral, antifungal and antiparasitic properties. They have also been reported to exhibit anti-inflammatory and immunostimulatory activities. Based on the wide spectrum of various biological activities, essential oils and terpenes commonly found in fruit, vegetables, herbs etc. have been suggested to constitute a novel group of preventive and therapeutic agents. Further experiments are necessary to confirm their pharmacological effectiveness, to determine potential toxic effects and the mechanism of their activity in in vivo models. This article describes the biological and pharmacological properties of herbal essential oils and some of their components, and summarizes the future prospects of potential application of essential oils in the prevention and treatment of infectious human diseases. In this review also possible mechanisms of their biological action are presented.http://journals.indexcopernicus.com/fulltxt.php?ICID=1067687essential oilsTerpenesinfectious diseases |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Sylwia Katarzyna Król Krystyna Skalicka-Woźniak Martyna Kandefer-Szerszeń Andrzej Stepulak |
spellingShingle |
Sylwia Katarzyna Król Krystyna Skalicka-Woźniak Martyna Kandefer-Szerszeń Andrzej Stepulak The biological and pharmacological activity of essential oils in the treatment and prevention of infectious diseases Postępy Higieny i Medycyny Doświadczalnej essential oils Terpenes infectious diseases |
author_facet |
Sylwia Katarzyna Król Krystyna Skalicka-Woźniak Martyna Kandefer-Szerszeń Andrzej Stepulak |
author_sort |
Sylwia Katarzyna Król |
title |
The biological and pharmacological activity of essential oils in the treatment and prevention of infectious diseases |
title_short |
The biological and pharmacological activity of essential oils in the treatment and prevention of infectious diseases |
title_full |
The biological and pharmacological activity of essential oils in the treatment and prevention of infectious diseases |
title_fullStr |
The biological and pharmacological activity of essential oils in the treatment and prevention of infectious diseases |
title_full_unstemmed |
The biological and pharmacological activity of essential oils in the treatment and prevention of infectious diseases |
title_sort |
biological and pharmacological activity of essential oils in the treatment and prevention of infectious diseases |
publisher |
Index Copernicus International S.A. |
series |
Postępy Higieny i Medycyny Doświadczalnej |
issn |
0032-5449 1732-2693 |
publishDate |
2013-09-01 |
description |
Despite the large progress in medicine and pharmacy in the last few decades, traditional treatment of bacterial or viral diseases is frequently ineffective and is connected with some side effects. Currently, there is observed an increasing interest in natural plant-derived substances as a potential and promising group of medicines in prevention and treatment of several infectious diseases. Terpenes and their derivatives are a large class of natural organic components of essential oils and are widespread in the plant kingdom. Numerous experimental studies have shown that essential oils exhibit a large spectrum of biological and pharmacological activities in vitro. Herbal essential oils have been proved to possess antimicrobial, antiviral, antifungal and antiparasitic properties. They have also been reported to exhibit anti-inflammatory and immunostimulatory activities. Based on the wide spectrum of various biological activities, essential oils and terpenes commonly found in fruit, vegetables, herbs etc. have been suggested to constitute a novel group of preventive and therapeutic agents. Further experiments are necessary to confirm their pharmacological effectiveness, to determine potential toxic effects and the mechanism of their activity in in vivo models. This article describes the biological and pharmacological properties of herbal essential oils and some of their components, and summarizes the future prospects of potential application of essential oils in the prevention and treatment of infectious human diseases. In this review also possible mechanisms of their biological action are presented. |
topic |
essential oils Terpenes infectious diseases |
url |
http://journals.indexcopernicus.com/fulltxt.php?ICID=1067687 |
work_keys_str_mv |
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