Phytochemical Composition and Biological Activity of the Essential Oil from Collected in Southwestern Montana, United States.

(Pall. ex Pursh) G.L. Nesom & G.I. Baird) is used in traditional medicine to treat various diseases; however, little is known about the immunomodulatory activity of essential oil from this plant. Thus, we isolated essential oil from the aerial parts of and evaluated their chemical composition and biological activity. Compositional analysis of essential oil revealed that the main (>2%) components were γ-decalactone (13.3%), cryptone (9.4%), terpinen-4-ol (9.3%), ()-methyl cinnamate (6.0%), T-cadinol (4.7%), spathulenol (3.6%), 8-2,3-dihydromatricaria ester (3.1%), β-phellandrene (3.0%), -cymen-8-ol (2.2%), 3-ethoxy-2-cycloocten-1-one (2.2%), and --menth-2-en-1-ol (2.1%). Distinctive features were the lactones (up to 15%) and polyacetylenes (up to 3.1%), including (2,8)-matricaria ester and -2,3-dihydromatricaria ester. A comparison with other reported essential oil samples showed that our samples were distinct from those collected in other areas of the country; however, they did have the most similarity to one sample collected in North Central Utah. Pharmacological studies showed that essential oil activated human neutrophil Ca influx, which desensitized these cells to subsequent agonist-induced functional responses. Based on our previously reported data that nerolidol, β-pinene, spathulenol, sabinene, and γ-terpinene were active in human neutrophils, these compounds are the most likely constituents contributing to this immunomodulatory activity. However, the relatively high amount of polyacetylenes may also contribute, as these compounds have been characterized as potent immunomodulators.