Medicinal properties of alpha-santalol, a naturally occurring constituent of sandalwood oil: review

Abstract

Alpha-santalol is a naturally occurring sesquiterpene that is derived from sandalwood oil. Its wide range of health benefits have been attributed to the modulation of various signalling pathways involved in the development of a particular disease. For example, the antitumour and cancer preventive properties of alpha-santalol have been shown to involve cell death induction through apoptosis and cell cycle arrest in various cancer models. A marked decrease in inflammatory markers have also been shown with alpha-santalol administration in skin tissue models. The current review is aimed at bringing the most recent advances of alpha-santalol against various disease-specific models and highlighting its associated mechanistic details.

Keywords:

• Alpha-santalol
• apoptosis
• diabetes
• cancer
• inflammation

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Wilkes University Provost Research & Scholarship grant awarded to AB by Wilkes University. The Authors also would like to acknowledge faculty development funds awarded to AB by Wilkes University and thank Dr Paul S. Adams and the mentoring task force at Wilkes University for supporting undergraduate students.