August 31, 2022.
Environmental pollution associated with heavy metals has been of global concern over many decades. These heavy metals are natural components of the environment but high rate of industrialization has been responsible for their wider diffusion and dispersal in the environment. Cadmium as a heavy metal has received considerable concern environmentally and occupationally as it has longer half-life and low rate of excretion making its level in the environment to increase.
Exposure to Cadmium severely affects the prefrontal cortex severely producing symptoms such as headache and vertigo, olfactory dysfunction, slowing of vasomotor functions, peripheral neuropathy, decreased equilibrium and ability to concentrate, and learning disabilities. Cadmium is a chemical element chemically similar to zinc and mercury that humans are exposed to primarily through diet (fortunately only about 5% of it is absorbed after ingestion) and smoking. It can be toxic in sufficient quantities and cause bone disease accompanied by severe bone pain with kidney failure. It is also associated with brain dysfunction particularly the prefrontal cortex—the frontal lobe of your brain that regulates behavior, personality, and executive function.
Many studies have demonstrated that essential dietary supplements play important roles in protecting against Cadmium-induced neurotoxicity. These essential dietary supplements including clove oil have been considered due to its medicinal and pharmaceutical uses. Clove oil or eugenol is a volatile phenolic constituent of clove essential oil obtained from Eugenia caryophyllata buds and leaves which is responsible for clove aroma. The wide range of eugenol activities includes antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, analgesic and antioxidant. A preclinical model of cadmium toxicity found that cadmium significantly reduced glutathione and glutathione S-transferase levels (optimum levels are critical to protect brain cells against damage caused by toxins) and caused neurological deficits. Administration of clove bud essential oil significantly protected against these effects by increasing antioxidant activity and preserving neurological function in subjects.
https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4173960