Abstract
The local anaesthetic activity of a number of compounds with different structures,
contained in essential oils, was studied. Anaesthetic activity was evaluated in vivo in the rabbit conjunctival reflex test and in vitro in a rat phrenic nerve-hemidiaphragm technique. Among the substances tested terpineol
and trans-anethole (10-3 - 1 μg/ml) were able to drastically reduce the electrically evoked contractions of
rat phrenic nerve-hemidiaphragm in a concentration-dependent manner, but not eugenol,
(-)- and (+)-citronellal, (-)- and (+)-carvone, trans cinnamaldehyde and α-terpinene. In the rabbit conjunctival reflex test, the treatment
with a solution of terpineol and trans-anethole (10 - 100 μg/ml) effected a concentration-dependent increase in the number
of stimuli required to evoke the reflex, thus confirming in vivo the local anaesthetic activity observed in vitro. Eugenol, (-)- and (+)-citronellal, trans-cinnamaldehyde, (-)- and (+)-carvone and α-terpinene were as ineffective in the in vivo test as they were in the in vitro results.
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Gabriela Mazzanti
Dipartimento di Farmacologia delle Sostanze Naturali e
Fisiologia Generale
Università ”La Sapienza”
P.le Aldo Moro, 5
00185 Rome
Italy
eMail: gabriela.mazzanti@uniromal.it
Fax: +39 06 49912480
Telefon: Tel.: +39 06 49912903
