Phytochemical profile and anti-inflammatory effect of Artemisia annua L. essential oil

Abstract

Plant-derived natural compounds are desired for their anti-inflammatory properties. We investigated the chemical composition and the anti-inflammatory effects of the essential oil obtained from leaves of the Chinese medicinal plant Artemisia annua L. Artemisia annua L. essential oil (AO) was obtained by hydrodistillation; the extraction yield was approximately 1.2%. Gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS) revealed the presence of 13 compounds in AO; the major compounds were caryophyllene (32.16%), eucalyptol (28.62%), α-pinene (19.08%), and β-pinene (14.72%). Cell counting kit-8 (CCK8) assay revealed that AO did not show in vitro cytotoxicity toward RAW264.7 cells and suppressed the expression of nitric oxide (NO), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), and interleukin-6 (IL-6) in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced RAW264.7 cells. Pretreatment with AO significantly reduced xylene-induced inflammation in the ears of Kunming mice. AO inhibited inflammatory cell infiltration, decreased epidermis thickness in the ear, and suppressed expression of TNF-α in the serum. The in vivo anti-inflammatory activity of AO was similar to that of the positive control compound Di Song Zhang Bo Cream. Overall, AO was observed to be an effective anti-inflammatory agent. These results provide an experimental basis for commercializing AO-derived external preparations for pharmacological and cosmetic industries.

GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT

KEYWORDS:

• Artemisia annua L
• Traditional Chinese medical essential oil
• anti-inflammation
• skin application

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Author contributions

The researchers conducting the experiment were different to the researchers analysing the outcomes, so as to minimize the influence of human factors. Each author’s contribution is as follows: Congcong Zhu and Manqi Hu conducted the experiments; Zongguang Tai, Ge Yan and Bin Fan analyzed and interpreted the data; Zongguang Tai and Pei Zhao were responsible for the statistical analysis; Xiao Miao and Quangang Zhu designed the research; Xiao Miao drafted the manuscript; Ge Yan was responsible for the correspondence and revision of the manuscript in the process of submission. Congcong Zhu and Ge Yan contributed equally to the article.

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are openly available in Mendeley Data at http://doi.org/10.17632/k6j6c2gnkh.1.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (82172706) and Science and Technology Commission of Shanghai Municipality (20DZ2255200, 21S21900900, 22S21902700).