Effects of rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis L.) and thyme (Thymus vulgaris L.) essential oils on bone tissue in rats

A.S. Elbahnasawy^*, E.R. Valeeva^**

Kazan Federal University, Kazan, 420008 Russia

E-mail: ^*amrsamir84@yahoo.com, ^**val_med@mail.ru

Received March 20, 2020

Full text PDF

DOI: 10.26907/2542-064X.2020.3.381-392

For citation: Elbahnasawy A.S., Valeeva E.R. Effects of rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis L.) and thyme (Thymus vulgaris L.) essential oils on bone tissue in rats. Uchenye Zapiski Kazanskogo Universiteta. Seriya Estestvennye Nauki, 2020, vol. 162, no. 3, pp. 381–392. doi: 10.26907/2542-064X.2020.3.381-392. (In Russian)

Abstract

Millions of people around the world suffer from osteoporosis. We need highly effective, safe, and affordable therapeutic agents to help them. Medicinal plants offer a great potential for solving this problem, because they contain many bioactive substances in high concentrations. Of particular value are essential-oil-bearing plants, such as rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis L.) and thyme (Thymus vulgaris L.). In this research, these two plants were analyzed to identify their effects on the state and formation of the bone tissue in rats. With this aim, we extracted volatile compounds and studied their essential oils using the method of gas chromatography. The results obtained demonstrate that thyme and rosemary monoterpenes effectively inhibit bone resorption. The addition of thyme and rosemary to the diet of rats significantly increased the calcium concentration in their blood plasma and the bone mineral density as compared to the group of rats that were fed a calcium-deficient diet. Notably, thyme bioactive substances have a stronger effect on the bone tissue than rosemary.

Keywords: bone tissue, bone mineral density, rosemary, thyme, essential oils

Acknowledgments. The work is performed according to the Russian Government Program of Competitive Growth of Kazan Federal University.

Figure Captions

Fig. 1. Average femur mass in the studied groups of rats. Groups that are significantly different from each other are indicated with letters (Tukey’s test, p < 0.05).

Fig. 2. Average femur length in the studied groups of rats. Groups that are significantly different from each other are indicated with letters (Tukey’s test, p < 0.05).

Fig. 3. Average femur mineral density in the studied groups of rats. Groups that are significantly different from each other are indicated with letters (Tukey’s test, p < 0.05).

Fig. 4. Calcium, phosphorus, and magnesium concentrations in the blood plasma of the studied groups of rats. Groups that are significantly different from each other are indicated with letters (Tukey’s test, p < 0.05).

References

1. Akarirmak Ü. Osteoporosis: A major problem – worldwide. Arch. Sports Med., 2018, vol. 2, no. 1, pp. 106–108. doi: 10.36959/987/237.
2. Boy H.I.A., Rutilla A.J.H., Santos K.A., Ty A.M.T., Yu A.I., Mahboob T., Tangpoong J., Nissapatorn V. Recommended medicinal plants as source of natural products: A review. Digital Chin. Med., 2018, vol. 1, no. 2, pp. 131–142. doi: 10.1016/S2589-3777(19)30018-7.
3. Mittal R.P., Rana A., Jaitak V. Essential oils: An impending substitute of synthetic antimicrobial agents to overcome antimicrobial resistance. Curr. Drug Targets, 2019, vol. 20, no. 6, pp. 605–624. doi: 10.2174/1389450119666181031122917.
4. Gerasimenko N.F., Poznyakovskii V.M., Chelnakova N.G. Healthy eating and its role in ensuring the high quality of life. Tekhnol. Pishch. Pererab. Prom-sti. APK–Prod. Zdorovogo Pitan., 2016, no. 4, pp. 52–57. (In Russian)
5. Mawalagedera S.M.U.P., Callahan D.L., Gaskett A.C., Rønsted N., Symonds M.R.E. Combining evolutionary inference and metabolomics to identify plants with medicinal potential. Front. Ecol. Evol., 2019, vol. 7, art. 267, pp. 1–11. doi: 10.3389/fevo.2019.00267.
6. Elbahnasawy A.S., Valeeva E.R., El-Sayed E.M., Stepanova N.V. Protective effect of dietary oils containing omega-3 fatty acids against glucocorticoid-induced osteoporosis. J. Nutr. Health., 2019, vol. 52, no. 4, pp. 323–331. doi: 10.4163/jnh.2019.52.4.323.
7. Tohidi B., Rahimmalek M., Arzani A. Essential oil composition, total phenolic, flavonoid contents, and antioxidant activity of Thymus species collected from different regions of Iran. Food Chem., 2017, vol. 220, pp. 153–161. doi: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2016.09.203.
8. Alsaraf S., Hadi Z., Al-Lawati W.M., Al Lawati A.A., Khan S.A. Chemical composition, in vitro antibacterial and antioxidant potential of Omani Thyme essential oil along with in silico studies of its major constituent. J. King Saud Univ., Sci., 2020, vol. 32, no. 1, pp. 1021–1028. doi: 10.1016/j.jksus.2019.09.006.
9. Zaïri A., Nouir S., Khalifa M.A., Ouni B., Haddad H., Khélifa A., Achour L., Trabelsi M. Phytochemical analysis and assessment of biological properties of essential oils obtained from Thyme and Rosmarinus species. Curr. Pharm. Biotechnol., 2020, vol. 21, no. 5, pp. 414–424. doi: 10.2174/1389201020666191019124630.
10. Elkomy M.M., Elsaid F.G. Anti-osteoporotic effect of medical herbs and calcium supplementation on ovariectomized rats. J. Basic Appl. Zool., 2015, vol. 72, pp. 81–88. doi: 10.1016/j.jobaz.2015.04.007.
11. Kompelly A., Kompelly S., Vasudha B., Narender B. Rosmarinus officinalis L.: An update review of its phytochemistry and biological activity. J. Drug Delivery Ther., 2019, vol. 9, no. 1, pp. 323–330. doi: 10.22270/jddt.v9i1.2218.
12. Borges R.S., Ortiz B.L.S., Pereira A.C.M., Keita H., Carvalho J.C.T. Rosmarinus officinalis essential oil: A review of its phytochemistry, anti-inflammatory activity, and mechanisms of action involved. J. Ethnopharmacol., 2019, vol. 229, pp. 29–45. doi: 10.1016/j.jep.2018.09.038.
13. de Oliveira J.R., Camargo S.E.A., de Oliveira L.D. Rosmarinus officinalis L. (rosemary) as therapeutic and prophylactic agent. J. Biomed. Sci., 2019, vol. 26, no. 1, art. 5, pp. 1–22. doi: 10.1186/s12929-019-0499-8.
14. Shinoki A., Hara H. Calcium deficiency in the early stages after weaning is associated with the enhancement of a low level of adrenaline-stimulated lipolysis and reduction of adiponectin    release in isolated rat mesenteric adipocytes. Metabolism, 2010, vol. 59, no. 7, pp. 951–958. doi: 10.1016/j.metabol.2009.10.016.
15. Reeves P.G., Nielsen F.H., Fahey G.C.Jr. AIN-93 purified diets for laboratory rodents: Final report of the American Institute of Nutrition ad hoc writing committee on the reformulation of the AIN-76A rodent diet. J. Nutr., 1993, vol. 23, no. 11, pp. 1939–1951. doi: 10.1093/jn/123.11.1939.
16. Naemura A., Ura M., Yamashita T., Arai R., Yamamoto J. Long-term intake of rosemary and common thyme herbs inhibits experimental thrombosis without prolongation of bleeding time. Thromb. Res., 2008, vol. 122, no. 4, pp. 517–522. doi: 10.1016/j.thromres.2008.01.014.

The content is available under the license Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.