Analysis of essential oil components from four food spices and determination of their in vitro fibrinolytic activity

Introduction: Atherothrombotic diseases such as myocardial or cerebral infarction are serious consequences of the thrombus formation in blood vessels. Thrombolytic agents are used to dissolve the already formed clots in the blood vessels. However, these drugs have certain adverse effects, which cause serious and sometimes fatal consequences. Methods: Plants essential oils were prepared and analyzed by GC/MS. To evaluate the fibrinolytic effect, fibrinogen labeled with FITC was added to the plasma. Ca2+ was used for production of labeled clot. The essential oil (1/10, 1/100, 1/1000 dilutions) with and without streptokinase as a positive control, were added. Fluorescence was determined after 10, 20, 40 and 60 minutes (excitation = 478, emission = 510). Results: Our findings showed that carvacrol was the main component of Zataria multiflora essential oil. This essential oil showed the best fibrinolytic activity. Curcuma domestica also showed fibrinolytic activity, which might be related to the presence of curcumene, zingiberene and tumeron. The main component of Cinnamomum verum essential oil was cinnamaldehyde and fibrinolytic activity of this essential oil was lower than Zataria multiflora and Curcuma domestica.. The essential oil from Heracleum persicum with main components such as hexyl butyrate and liner esters did not have any significant fibrinolytic activity. Conclusion: In our study, it was found that Zataria multiflora, Curcuma domestica and Cinnamomum verum can dissolve blood clots in vitro. However, in vivo clot dissolving properties of these plants are yet to be discovered.