Department of Food Technology, Universitat Politècnica de València, Camino de Vera s/n, 46022, Valencia, Spain.
Department of Food Technology, Universitat Politècnica de València, Camino de Vera s/n, 46022, Valencia, Spain.
Food Chem Toxicol. 2022 Jan;159:112763. doi: 10.1016/j.fct.2021.112763. Epub 2021 Dec 9.
The extensive use of essential oil components in an increasing number of applications can substantially enhance exposure to these compounds, which leads to potential health and environmental hazards. This work aimed to evaluate the toxicity of four widely used essential oil components (carvacrol, eugenol, thymol, vanillin) using the in vivo model Caenorhabditis elegans. For this purpose, the LC value of acute exposure to these components was first established; then the effect of sublethal concentrations on nematodes' locomotion behaviour, reproduction, heat and oxidative stress resistance and chemotaxis was evaluated. The results showed that all the components had a concentration-dependent effect on nematode survival at moderate to high concentrations. Carvacrol and thymol were the two most toxic compounds, while vanillin had the mildest toxicological effect. Reproduction resulted in a more sensitive endpoint than lethality to evaluate toxicity. Only pre-exposure to carvacrol and eugenol at the highest tested sublethal concentrations conferred worms oxidative stress resistance. However, at these and lower concentrations, both components induced reproductive toxicity. Our results evidence that these compounds can be toxic at lower doses than those required for their biological action. These findings highlight the need for a specific toxicological assessment of every EOC application.
越来越多的应用中广泛使用精油成分，这大大增加了人们接触这些化合物的可能性，从而带来潜在的健康和环境危害。本研究旨在利用活体模型秀丽隐杆线虫来评估四种广泛使用的精油成分（香芹酚、丁香酚、百里香酚、香草醛）的毒性。为此，首先确定了这些成分急性暴露的 LC 值；然后评估了亚致死浓度对线虫运动行为、繁殖、热应激和氧化应激抗性以及趋化性的影响。结果表明，所有成分在中高浓度下对线虫的存活率均有浓度依赖性影响。香芹酚和百里香酚是两种毒性最强的化合物，而香草醛的毒性作用最轻微。与致死率相比，繁殖是评估毒性的更敏感终点。只有在最高测试亚致死浓度下预先暴露于香芹酚和丁香酚，才能使线虫获得氧化应激抗性。然而，在这些及更低浓度下，这两种成分均会导致生殖毒性。我们的研究结果表明，这些化合物在低于其生物学作用所需剂量时就可能具有毒性。这些发现强调了对每种精油成分应用进行特定毒理学评估的必要性。
