May 21, 2025
Depression is a multifaceted affective mental disorder with a variety of clinical manifestations, such as weight loss, diminished interest, an inability to express emotions, and disruptions in appetite and sleep patterns. It ranks as the primary contributor to the global incidence of suicide among the 20 leading causes worldwide. Conventional Western antidepressant drugs exhibit limited clinical utility due to inherent shortcomings such as severe adverse effects, high costs, and a propensity for relapse upon discontinuation, making patient adherence to treatment challenging. Volatile oil, as the principal active ingredient of aromatic Chinese medicine, possesses therapeutic properties such as soothing, anti-inflammatory, and neuroprotective effects, thereby conferring a distinct advantage in the treatment of mental illnesses such as depression, anxiety, and insomnia. Volatile oils have been documented to be able to access the central regions of the brain, allowing for a more potent antidepressant effect with fewer adverse reactions and reduced toxicity.
Rosa damascena (Rosa damascena Mill.) is a shrub belonging to the Rosa genus in the Rosaceae family. This plant is renowned for its high-value Rosa damascena essential oil, commonly employed in the perfumery, cosmetics, and pharmaceutical industries. Its primary active constituents include flavonoids, volatile oils, aromatic compounds, polysaccharides, polyphenols, fatty acids, and other nutrients that exhibit antidepressant, anti-stress, and anxiolytic effects. Rosa damascena essential oil extracted from the petals of Rosa damascena, the main components are citronellol, geraniol, phenylethanol, methyl eugenol, etc. Rosa damascena essential oil has been applied for treating depression, anxiety and other neurological related disorders in Iranian traditional medicine. A preclinical study evaluated the effects of ingesting three different doses of rose essential oil compared to fluoxetine and a control group (no stress) on depressive-like behavior caused by chronic unpredictable mild stress. Rose oil reduced depressive-like behavior by significantly increasing serotonin levels and reducing damage to the neurons in the hippocampal region of the brain. The oil also reversed metabolic disturbances through the regulation of amino acid pathways and modified the expression of five genes related to mental health (EEF1A1, LOC729197, ATP8A2, NDST4, and GAD2). Molecular docking analysis showed that citronellol, geraniol, and (E,E)-farnesol had good binding potential to target proteins involved in depression. Interestingly, effectiveness was observed despite the rose oil being poor quality from a chemistry standpoint (23.1% nonadecane, 16.0% citronellol, 10.7% heneicosane, and 8.6% 1-nonadecene).
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38492791/