Title:Research Progress of Essential Oil as a New Complementary Therapy in the Treatment of Depression
Volume: 21
Issue: 16
Author(s): Xinli Liang, Xinli Wang, Guowei Zhao, Xiaoying Huang, Xiqiang Xu and Wei Dong*
Affiliation:
- Key Laboratory of Modern Preparation of TCM, Ministry of Education, Jiangxi University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Nanchang 330004,China
Keywords:
Depression, depressive disorder, essential oils, traditional antidepressants, animal models, traditional medicine.
Abstract: Depression is a mood disorder or affective disorder disease with depression as the main
symptom. It has become a kind of mental disease that cannot be ignored in the world that seriously
endangers human physical and mental health. Antidepressants commonly used in clinics generally
have some defects, including slow action, unremarkable effects, and large side-effects. Therefore,
there has a huge developing space for the research of new and effective therapeutic drugs to supplement
or replace traditional drugs. The essential oil has obvious advantages in the treatment of depression
and other emotional diseases, its aromatic odor can directly stimulate the olfactory nerves, and
the lipophilic small- molecular compounds can cross the blood-brain barrier easily to play its regulatory
role of releasing neurotransmitters and hormones related to depression, or adjusting the expression
of brain-derived neurotrophic factor and proinflammatory cytokines. The pathogenesis of depression
and the problems in traditional medication were illustrated, the research on the antidepressant effects
and mechanism of essential oils in recent years is summarized, and the antidepressant chemical components
in plant essential oils are reviewed in this article. The article provides scientific basis for an
essential oil to be a new choice for relieving depression and treating depression.
