title: Lemon grass (Cymbopogon citratus) essential oil as a potent anti-inflammatory and antifungal drugs.
abstract: Volatile oils obtained from lemon grass [Cymbopogon citratus (DC.) Stapf, Poaceae family] are used in traditional medicine as remedies for the treatment of various diseases.
  
  
  
  In the present study, lemon grass essential oil (LGEO) was evaluated for its in vivo topical and oral anti-inflammatory effects, and for its in vitro antifungal activity using both liquid and vapor phases.
  
  
  
  The chemical profile of LGEO as determined by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis revealed two major components: geranial (42.2%), and neral (31.5%). The antifungal activity of LGEO was evaluated against several pathogenic yeasts and filamentous fungi using disc diffusion and vapor diffusion methods.
  
  
  
  LGEO exhibited promising antifungal effect against Candida albicans, C. tropicalis, and Aspergillus niger, with different inhibition zone diameters (IZDs) (35-90 mm). IZD increased with increasing oil volume. Significantly, higher anti-Candida activity was observed in the vapor phase. For the evaluation of the anti-inflammatory effect, LGEO (10 mg/kg, administered orally) significantly reduced carrageenan-induced paw edema with a similar effect to that observed for oral diclofenac (50 mg/kg), which was used as the positive control. Oral administration of LGEO showed dose-dependent anti-inflammatory activity. In addition, topical application of LGEO in vivo resulted in a potent anti-inflammatory effect, as demonstrated by using the mouse model of croton oil-induced ear edema. To our knowledge, this is the first such report to be published. The topical application of LGEO at doses of 5 and 10 µL/ear significantly reduced acute ear edema induced by croton oil in 62.5 and 75% of the mice, respectively. In addition, histological analysis clearly confirmed that LGEO inhibits the skin inflammatory response in animal models.
  
  
  
  RESULTS of the present study indicate that LGEO has a noteworthy potential for the development of drugs for the treatment of fungal infections and skin inflammation that should be explored in future studies.
authors.affiliation: Département de Biologie et Physiologie Cellulaire, Faculté des Sciences de la Nature et de la Vie, Université Blida 1, Blida, Algeria;mn.boukhatem@yahoo.fr.
authors.forename: Mohamed Nadjib
authors.initials: MN
authors.lastname: Boukhatem
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Recherche sur les Produits Bioactifs et Valorisation de la Biomasse, Département de Chimie, Ecole Normale Supérieure de Kouba, Alger, Algeria.
authors.forename: Mohamed Amine
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Ferhat
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire Eco-Physiologie Végétale, Département des Sciences Naturelles, Ecole Normale Supérieure de Kouba, Alger, Algeria.
authors.forename: Abdelkrim
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kameli
authors.affiliation: Département de Biologie et Physiologie Cellulaire, Faculté des Sciences de la Nature et de la Vie, Université Blida 1, Blida, Algeria.
authors.forename: Fairouz
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Saidi
authors.affiliation: Département de Biologie et Physiologie Cellulaire, Faculté des Sciences de la Nature et de la Vie, Université Blida 1, Blida, Algeria.
authors.forename: Hadjer Tchoketch
authors.initials: HT
authors.lastname: Kebir
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000893:Anti-Inflammatory Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D000935:Antifungal Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001234:Aspergillus niger / Q000187:drug effects; D002176:Candida albicans / Q000187:drug effects; D041022:Candida tropicalis / Q000187:drug effects; D031743:Cymbopogon / Q000737:chemistry*; D004423:Ear; D004487:Edema / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D005528:Foot; D008401:Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry; D008297:Male; D008519:Medicine, Traditional; D051379:Mice; D009822:Oils, Volatile / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology; D008517:Phytotherapy / Q000379:methods*; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology*; D010938:Plant Oils / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology
chemical_list: D000893:Anti-Inflammatory Agents; D000935:Antifungal Agents; D009822:Oils, Volatile; D010936:Plant Extracts; D010938:Plant Oils
keywords: anti-inflammatory effect; antifungal activity; aromatherapy; citral; essential oil; lemon grass