Anticonvulsant properties of linalool

Linalool is a component of many essential oils, including orange, lavender, rose, rosewood, and coriander.  The main problem the Cosmetics Database has with linalool is the risk of skin irritation and allergic reactions.  Just like limonene, linalool is not a skin allergen in its pure form.  However, when it's oxidized, it can cause allergic reactions/sensitivity at high concentrations.  

Anticonvulsant properties of linalool

Linalool is a monoterpene compound, commonly found as major component of essential oils of several aromatic species, many of which are used traditionally as sedatives.Psychopharmacological evaluation of linalool in mice revealed that this compound has dose-dependent marked sedative effects at the CNS, including protection against pentylenetetrazol, picrotoxin, quinolinic acid and electroshock-induced convulsions, hypnotic, and hypothermic properties.Relevant to its mechanism of action, linalool behaves as a competitive antagonist of glutamate, and as a non-competitive antagonist of NMDA receptors in brain cortical membranes;additionally, linalool reduces potassium-stimulated (but not basal) glutamate release.

Interfering with multiple mechanisms that underlie seizures may be necessary to effectively counteract epileptic phenomena,and developing drugs that differentially affect normal and hyperexcitable neurons has been postulated to spare normal excitatory function.Therefore, the fact that anticonvulsant effects of linalool can be attributed to both an inhibition of potassium-stimulated (but not basal) glutamate release in cortical synaptosomes, and antagonism of NMDA receptors, deserves further investigation as a strategy for antiepileptic-drug development.

Correlational study

like limonene, pure linalool has anti-cancer effects.  One study found that "...linalool exhibited comparable IC(50) values to the commercial drug vinblastine on the ACHN cell line" in killing liver cancer cells.  

This study found that linalool "may improve the therapeutic index of anthracyclines in the management of breast cancer, especially in MDR tumors."  In other words, it aided breast cancer drugs in killing breast cancer cells that had grown resistant to the drugs.  

Linalool also shows promise against leukemia. Among the substances tested "linalool showed the strongest activity against histiocytic lymphoma cells U937 (IC50: 3.51 microg/ml, SI: 592.6) and Burkitt lymphoma cells P3HR1 (IC50: 4.21 microg/ml, SI: 494.1)."  

So, again, we get back to the point that the Cosmetics Database doesn't give an accurate or full picture of linalool because it doesn't factor in the positive information.  Yes, oxidized linalool can cause skin reactions, but as long as the essential oil or linalool extractive is pure and fresh, it is not just safe, but beneficial.

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