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Review
. 2022 Aug 3;10(11):3544-3561.
doi: 10.1002/fsn3.2994. eCollection 2022 Nov.

Therapeutic application of carvacrol: A comprehensive review

Muhammad Imran  1 , Mahwish Aslam  2 , Suliman A Alsagaby  3 , Farhan Saeed  4 , Ishtiaque Ahmad  5 , Muhamamd Afzaal  4 , Muhammad Umair Arshad  4 , Mohamed A Abdelgawad  6 , Ahmed H El-Ghorab  7 , Ahmed Khames  8 , Mohammad Ali Shariati  9 , Arslan Ahmad  4 , Muzamal Hussain  4 , Ali Imran  4 , Saiful Islam  10
Affiliations
Review

Therapeutic application of carvacrol: A comprehensive review

Muhammad Imran et al. Food Sci Nutr. .

Abstract

Carvacrol is a major natural constituent and is significantly present as an essential oil in aromatic plants and is well known for its numerous biological activities. Therapeutic properties of carvacrol have been demonstrated as anti-oxidant, anticancer, diabetes prevention, cardioprotective, anti-obesity, hepatoprotective and reproductive role, antiaging, antimicrobial, and immunomodulatory properties. The carvacrol biosynthesis has been mediated through mevalonate pathway. Carvacrol has the anticancer ability against malignant cells via decreasing the expressions of matrix metalloprotease 2 and 9, inducing apoptosis, enhancing the expression of pro-apoptotic proteins, disrupting mitochondrial membrane, suppressing extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 mitogen-activated protein kinase signal transduction, and also decreasing the phosphoinositide 3-kinase/protein kinase B. It also decreased the concentrations of alanine aminotransferase, alkaline phosphatase and aspartate aminotransferase, and gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase as well as also restored liver function, insulin level, and plasma glucose level. Carvacrol also has been found to exert antimicrobial activity against Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Coagulase-negative staphylococcus, Salmonella spp., Enterococcus sp. Shigella, and Escherichia coli. The current review article summarizes the health-promoting perspectives of carvacrol through various pathways.

Keywords: anticancer; antidiabetic; cardio‐protective; carvacrol; dose and safety; phytochemical.

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Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Carvacrol biosynthetic pathways via the mevalonate pathway.
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Anti‐oxidant potential of carvacrol.
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 3
Health perspectives of carvacrol.
FIGURE 4
FIGURE 4
Scheme of anticancer‐induced reactions by carvacrol (modified from Liu et al., 2018).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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