Alternative and Complementary Treatments
Harold G. Koenig in Chronic Pain, 2013
Cloves are the dried, dark brown unexpanded flower buds of an evergreen tree found in the tropics. Used commonly as a spice, cloves also contain oil that can be extracted through steam distillation from the buds, stems, and leaves. The oil is reported to have pain-relieving properties. A tea can be made using the oil that may also relieve nausea, as well as treat upset stomach, gas, sore throat, and dental pain. For thousands of years, Chinese healers used cloves to treat a variety of health conditions ranging from diarrhea to hernias. A few drops of clove oil are used to make the tea. Mouthwashes are made using concentrations of oil from 1 to 5 percent. The undiluted oil can be applied directly to painful teeth or mouth sores. Safety is not proven and potency of commercial preparations may vary widely.
Catalog of Herbs
James A. Duke in Handbook of Medicinal Herbs, 2018
Cloves of commerce are the dried, unexpanded flower-buds with a lower nail-shaped portion consisting of the calyx-tube enclosing the upper half of the ovary, the four calyx teeth surrounding the unopened globular petals and stamens. Cloves are used as a condiment or spice in cordials, soups, sauces, tobaccos, masticatones, curries, pickles, preserves, desserts, cakes, and puddings. In Indonesia, cloves are used to make special cigarettes which crackle when burning. Cloves have been used in both alcoholic and nonalcoholic beverages, e.g., Benedictine and cola. Ground cloves enter many spice mixtures, curry powders, pumpkin-pie spice, and sausage seasonings. Whole or ground cloves are used in sachets, pomanders, and potpourris. Clove oil, clove-stem oil, and clove-bud oil, obtained by steam distillation, are used in soaps, insect repellents, perfumes, mouthwashes, medicines, and as an antiseptic. They contain eugenol, which is important in the manufacture of synthetic vanilla. Eugenol is mixed with zinc oxide and used as the temporary filling to disinfect root canals from which the pulp has been removed prior to permanent restoration, mixed with catnip, ground cloves with sassafras are applied as a poultice to aching teeth.11 Oil also used as a clearing agent in biomicroscopy. It is bactericidal. Takechi and Tanaka report the antiviral substance, eugeniin, from the buds.306
Adverse Effects and Intoxication with Essential Oils
K. Hüsnü Can Başer, Gerhard Buchbauer in Handbook of Essential Oils, 2020
Clove oil is the common name for an extract from the flower buds of Syzygium aromaticum (L.) Merrill et L. M. Perry, also known as Caryophyllus aromaticus L., Eugenia aromatica (L.) Baill., Eugenia caryophyllus (Spreng.) Bullock & S. G. Harrison, and Eugenia caryophyllata Thunberg. It is a complex mixture of chemical substances, the main component being eugenol. The essential oil is widely used and well known for its medicinal properties. Traditional uses of clove oil include use in dental care, as an antiseptic and analgesic, where the undiluted oil may be rubbed on the gums to treat toothache. It is active against oral bacteria associated with dental caries and periodontal disease (Cai and Wu, 1996) and effective against a large number of other bacteria (Chaieb et al., 2007). The major component of clove oil is usually considered to be eugenol with a content of 88.6% (Chaieb et al., 2007).
Effects of lipid formulations on clove extract spray dried powders: comparison of physicochemical properties, storage stability and in vitro intestinal permeation
Published in Pharmaceutical Development and Technology, 2018
Diego F. Cortes-Rojas, Claudia R. F. Souza, Mong-Jen Chen, Guenther Hochhaus, Wanderley P. Oliveira
Clove (Syzygium aromaticum) is an important medicinal plant that has been used for centuries as food preservative, pain reliever and found to be one of the richest sources for phenolic antioxidants (Shan et al. 2005; Pérez-Jiménez et al. 2010). In clove extracts, eugenol and eugenyl acetate are the two main compounds which contribute to the medicinal and nutritional benefits (Kamatou et al. 2012). For example, eugenol has been suggested as a drug candidate for cancer prevention and treatment. It has been shown to modulate several cellular inflammation-related signaling pathways, such as the nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) pathways. NF-κB function as dimeric transcription factors which regulate the expression of genes influencing a broad range of biological processes including immunity, inflammation and stress responses (Aggarwal & Shishodia 2010).
Syzygium aromaticum aqueous extract inhibits human neutrophils myeloperoxidase and protects mice from LPS-induced lung inflammation
Published in Pharmaceutical Biology, 2019
Amina Chniguir, Fatma Zioud, Viviana Marzaioli, Jamel El-Benna, Rafik Bachoual
Thus, the beneficial effects of cloves are attributed to phenolic compounds including phenolic acids (gallic acid), flavonolglucosides, phenolic volatile oils (eugenol, acetyl eugenol) and tannins (Cortés-Rojas et al. 2014). These compounds scavenge free radicals and inhibit lipid oxidation in vitro (Gil et al. 2000; Noda et al. 2002). A comparative study of antioxidant properties and total phenolic content of 30 plant extracts of industrial interest using DPPH, ABTS, FRAP, SOD and ORAC assays showed that clove and plants as pine, cinnamon and mate proved its enormous potential as food preservative among the 30 plants analyzed (Dudonne et al. 2009). Further studies are needed to identify the precise compounds responsible for the MPO and MMP-2 and -9 activities inhibition observed in this work.
Microemulsion-thermosensitive gel composites as in situ-forming drug reservoir for periodontitis tissue repair through alveolar bone and collagen regeneration strategy
Published in Pharmaceutical Development and Technology, 2023
Yang Ding, Yuxiao Wang, Jiaxin Li, Maomao Tang, Hairong Chen, Guichun Wang, Jian Guo, Shuangying Gui
Chinese herbal medicines have unique advantages and specific effects in preventing and treating of periodontitis, thanks to their wide range of biological activities and high safety. Baicalin is a natural compound extracted from the root of Scutellaria baicalensis and represents one of the most important bioactive flavonoids widely used in traditional Chinese medicine. Baicalin inhibits the mRNA expression of RANKL, with a role in osteoclast differentiation, by inhibiting IL-1β-induced COX-2 expression, which is involved in inflammation. In addition to the antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties, baicalin is effective in periodontitis and alveolar bone resorption (Wang et al. 2006). Clove oil is an essential oil extracted from Eugenia caryophyllata, with mainly antioxidant, analgesic, antifungal, and antibacterial properties (Pramod et al. 2010; Nunez and Aquino 2012). Clove oil is also used as a natural antibacterial agent against cariogenic and periodontal pathogens (Blaszyk and Holley 1998; Moon et al. 2011). Therefore, combining of baicalin and clove oil may exert a potentially better effect in periodontitis, therapy, reducing side effects and the development of antimicrobial resistance. However, the physical and chemical properties of baicalin and clove oil differ; thus, microemulsion is used to load baicalin and clove oil together in a delivery system. Compared with previous reports, we prepared a microemulsion mixture with clove oil instead of the traditional oil phase. On the one hand, the combination of clove oil and baicalin exerts multi-target therapeutic effects; on the other hand, clove oil acts as both active ingredient and the excipient of the oil phase in microemulsion.
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