Biomarkers and toxicological evaluation of Lavandula spp. essential oils

Abstract

Lavenders belong to the family Labiatae and are one of the most popular aromatic plants widely used in food industry, perfumery and pharmaceutical preparations. Their oils are traditionally believed to be antibacterial, antifungal, carminative, sedative, antidepressive, disinfectant, and effective for burns and insect bites [1]. Previous studies have shown that the essentials oils of Lavandula stoechas subsp. luisieri Rozeira (L. luisieri) and Lavandula viridis L’Hér have a broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity [2]. In present work we have developed a set of studies in vivo, using animal model, in order to evaluate the toxicological proprieties of essential oils (EOs) of two aromatic plants endemic of south of Portugal, namely L. luisieri from Alentejo and L. viridis from Algarve. EOs were obtained from aerial part of plants by hydrodistillation and chemical composition was evaluated by GC-FID. Acute toxicity (LD50) was determined in Swiss mice according to Up-and-Down OECD procedure [3] and oral toxicity assays were performed based on hippocratic screening during 14 days [4], as required by the Direção Geral de Veterinária and FELASA. Histological analyses of the liver and kidney, as well as quantification of biomarkers: aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), gamma glutamyltransferase (γ-GT), creatinine and urea were performed.