Pharmacological Effects of Carvacrol in In vitro Studies: A Review

• Published in: Current pharmaceutical design Vol. 24; no. 29; p. 3454
• Main Authors: Silva, Erika Ramos, de Carvalho, Fernanda Oliveira, Teixeira, Luciana Garcez Barretto, Santos, Nayara Gomes Lima, Felipe, Fernanda Araújo, Santana, Hericalizandra Santa Rosa, Shanmugam, Saranavan, Quintans Júnior, Lucindo José, de Souza Araújo, Adriano Antunes, Nunes, Paula Santos
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United Arab Emirates 08.12.2018
• Subjects: antimicrobial; Carvacrol; monoterpene; in vitro models; natural product; pharmacology
• ISSN: 1873-4286
• DOI: 10.2174/1381612824666181003123400

Carvacrol has a high therapeutic potential, with in vitro studies showing promising results in different cellular models using a variety of methodological designs. Therefore, the objective of this study was to conduct a systematic review to analyze the pharmacological effects of carvacrol in in vitro studies. A comprehensive search of the literature was made using four databases: Science Direct, Scopus, MEDLINE-PubMed, and Web of Science using different combinations of the following keywords: carvacrol, drug therapy, therapeutic uses, in vitro study. The search of the databases was for studies conducted in the period up to and including September 2016. A total of 3,269 studies were initially identified, with only 31 meeting the inclusion criteria. The included studies contained a variety of in vitro models able to determine the properties of Carvacrol. The following properties of Carvacrol were identified: antimicrobial (7 studies), bactericidal (4), bactericidal and antifungal (1), antiinflammatory (4), anticancer (4), mutagenic (4), antioxidant (3), antifungal (3), antidepressant (1), as a modulator of nerve impulses (1) and an immunological modulator (1). The In vitro studies with Carvacrol included in this review showed a diversity of models and confirmed the therapeutic potential of this product in relation to several diseases.