Acta Pharm. 59 (2009) 289-300

 

full paper

Original research paper

 

Chemical composition, antioxidant, anti-elastase, and anti-inflammatory activities of Illicium anisatum essential oil

JI-YOUNG KIM, SANG-SUK KIM, TAE-HEON OH, JONG SEOK BAIK, GWANPIL SONG, NAM HO LEE and CHANG-GU HYUN

cghyun@jejuhidi.or.kr

1 Research Group for Cosmetic Materials, Jeju Biodiversity Research Institute (JBRI), Jeju Hi-Tech Industry Development Institute (HiDI), Jeju 699-943, Korea

2 Department of Chemistry, Cheju National University, Jeju 690-756, Korea

Accepted June 24, 2009

 

The essential oil of air-dried Illicium anisatum obtained by hydrodistillation was analyzed by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS). Fifty-two components were identified in the essential oil and the main component was eucalyptol (21.8 %). The antioxidant and anti-elastase activities of the essential oil were also investigated; the essential oil exhibited moderate DPPH scavenging and anti-elastase activities. To clarify the mechanism of the anti-inflammatory activities of I. anisatum essential oil (IAE), we evaluated whether it could modulate the production of nitric oxide (NO) and prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) by activated macrophages. The results indicate that IAE is an effective inhibitor of LPS-induced NO and PGE2 production in RAW 264.7 cells. These inhibitory activities were accompanied by dose-dependent decreases in the expression of iNOS and COX-2 proteins and iNOS and COX-2 mRNA. In order to determine whether IAE can be safely applied to human skin, the cytotoxic effects of IAE were determined by colorimetric MTT assays in human dermal fibroblast and keratinocyte HaCaT cells. IAE exhibited low cytotoxicity at 100 μg mL-1. Based on these results, we suggest that IAE may be considered an anti-aging and anti-inflammatory candidate for cosmetic materials, but additional in vitro and in vivo tests have to be performed to prove its safety and efficacy.

 

Keywords: Illicium anisatum, Illicium religiosum, Illicium japonicum, chemical composition, cosmetics, DPPH, elastase, inflammation