title: Fragrant environment with α-pinene decreases tumor growth in mice.
abstract: Stress is believed to be harmful to not only mental but also physical health. However, proving a link between stress and disease is difficult. A recent study reported that an environmental enrichment reduced cancer growth via the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and leptin. Here, we report that mice kept in a fragrant environment enriched with α-pinene show reduced melanoma growth. Tumor volume of mice under the α-pinene environment was about 40% smaller than that in the control mice. α-Pinene had no inhibitory effect on melanoma cell proliferation in vitro, suggesting that this effect was not a direct effect of α-pinene. These results suggest that the provision of a fragrant environment may be an important factor in the therapeutic approach to cancer.
authors.affiliation: Regional Resources Division, Shizuoka Cancer Center Research Institute, 1007 Shimonagakubo, Nagaizumi-cho, Sunto-gun, Shizuoka 411-8777, Japan. m.kusuhara@scchr.jp
authors.forename: Masatoshi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kusuhara
authors.forename: Kenichi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Urakami
authors.forename: Yoko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Masuda
authors.forename: Vincent
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Zangiacomi
authors.forename: Hidee
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ishii
authors.forename: Sachiko
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tai
authors.forename: Koj
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Maruyama
authors.forename: Ken
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yamaguchi
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000081008:Bicyclic Monoterpenes; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D004777:Environment; D008545:Melanoma / Q000628:therapy*; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D039821:Monoterpenes / Q000494:pharmacology*; D009812:Odorants / Q000032:analysis*; D010476:Perfume / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D000081008:Bicyclic Monoterpenes; D039821:Monoterpenes; D010476:Perfume; C005451:alpha-pinene