Effect of the essential oil of Achillea millefolium L. in the production of hydrogen peroxide and tumor necrosis factor-alpha in murine macrophages

Abstract

Macrophages release more than one hundred compounds into the extracellular environment. Among these, there are cytokines and intermediate oxygen compounds, such as TNF-alpha and H2O2. We evaluated the effect of the crude essential oil of Achillea millefolium L. (Asteraceae) by determining hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) release in cultures of peritoneal macrophages cells from Swiss mice. Commercial azulene was also tested for comparison with the essential oil. The macrophages viability in the presence of the oil was analyzed and the dilutions of 1:100 and 1:200 showed the best results. A mild production of H2O2 and a moderate liberation of TNF-alpha were observed. It was also noticed that H2O2 and TNF-alpha production using commercial azulene was higher than that produced by the oil. The essential oil of A. millefolium was able to stimulate peritoneal macrophages to produce H2O2 and TNF-alpha without causing an overproduction of these compounds. It is suggested that the essential oil can modulate macrophages activation.