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Boswellia resin: From religious ceremonies to medical uses; a review of in-vitro, in-vivo and clinical trials
Abstract
Despite its historical-religious, cultural and medical importance, Boswellia has not been thoroughly studied, and gaps still exist between our knowledge of the traditional uses of the resin and the scientific data available. Here we review the pharmacology of Boswellia resin and of the small molecules identified as the active ingredients of the resin.
The resin of Boswellia species ('frankincense', 'olibanum') has been used as incense in religious and cultural ceremonies since the beginning of written history. Its medicinal properties are also widely recognized, mainly in the treatment of inflammatory conditions, as well as in some cancerous diseases, wound healing and for its antimicrobial activity. Until recently, work on Boswellia focused on the immunomodulatory properties of the resin and boswellic acids were considered to be the main, if not the only, active ingredients of the resin. Hence, this family of triterpenoids was investigated by numerous groups, both in vitro and in vivo. These compounds were shown to exert significant anti-inflammatory and pro-apoptotic activity in many assays: in vitro, in vivo and in clinical trials. We recently found incensole acetate and its derivatives, which are major components of Boswellia resin, to be nuclear factor-kappaB inhibitors, thus suggesting that they are, at least in part, responsible for its anti-inflammatory effects. Incensole acetate also exerts a robust neuroprotective effect after brain trauma in mice. Furthermore, it causes behavioural as well as anti-depressive and anxiolytic effects in mice. It is also a potent agonist of the transient receptor potential (TRP)V3 channel. It thus seems that incensole acetate and its derivatives play a significant role in the effects that Boswellia resin exerts on biological systems.
Altogether, studies on Boswellia resin have provided an arsenal of bio-active small molecules with a considerable therapeutic potential that is far from being utilized.
... Frankincense, an oleogum resin of different species of the genus Boswellia (Burseraceae), has long been used in eastern countries' traditional medicine to alleviate pain and inflammation (Moussaieff & Mechoulam, 2009). The resins from both B. serrata and B carterii trees and its derivatives, particularly the boswellic acids, have shown various biological activities, including inhibitory activity of leukotriene biosynthesis and antitumor activity (Singh et al, 2008). ...
... Although it was demonstrated that boswellic acids are potent activators of polymorphonuclear cells (Altmann et al, 2004), little is known about the effects of the total extract on the human phagocytes' apoptosis. The ethnomedicinal importance of Boswellia carteri resin (Moussaieff & Mechoulam, 2009) and the pivotal role of neutrophils clearance in the resolution of inflammation prompted us to undertake a characterization of the BCE in vitro effects on the human activity and viability of neutrophils. ...
Background: Neutrophil activation is required for the initiation of the defence mechanisms which include phagocytosis. Paradoxically, neutrophils also represent one of the main mediators of tissue injury in various human diseases. The resolution of inflammation requires getting rid of excess inflammatory cells through natural cell death and phagocyte clearance. Frankincense, an oleogum resin of different species of the genus Boswellia (Burseraceae), has long been used in eastern countries' traditional medicine to alleviate pain and inflammation. Although it was demonstrated that boswellic acids are potent activators of polymorphonuclear cells, little is known about the effects of the total extract on the human phagocytes' apoptosis. Aims: To undertake a characterization of the Boswellia carteri resin extract (BCE) effects on human neutrophils activity and viability in vitro. Methods: Oxidative burst after stimulation with BCE was evaluated by reduction of nitroblue tetrazolium (NBT) colorimetric method for superoxide anion radical in the the presence of different compounds (N-ethyl maleimide, diltiazem, chelerythrine and wortmannin). Neutrophils viability was assessed monitoring the uptake of the vital mitochondrial dye 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazolyl)-2,5-diphenyl-tetrazolium bromide (MTT). Flow analyses were performed on neutrophils stained with propidium iodide (PI) and annexin V-FITC. Results: our results show that BCE induces the release reactive species of oxygen in human neutrophils in a dose dependent manner. The superoxide anion radical is principally produced via NADPH oxidase since inhibitors of the enzyme may prevent it. Ca +2 depletion reduce the magnitude of activation and PKC and PI3-K are also apparently involved in the process. The BCE has also cytotoxic activity revealed by the MTT assay. This effect seems to be produced by an apoptotic process as shown by the exclusion of the dye propidium iodide and the annexin V-FITC binding in neutrphils. Conclusion: The capacity of the Boswellia carterii extract to accelerate the cellular death by an apoptotic process suggest that either the extract or its active compounds could have applications for the resolution of some inflammatory conditions.
... Each component of YSK-A is recognized for its immunomodulatory properties. B. serrata contains active compounds such as 11-keto-betaboswellic acid (KBA) and 3-O-acetyl-11-keto-beta-boswellic acid (AKBA) (Miscioscia, Shmalberg & Scott, 2019), which contribute to anti-inflammatory effects and enhancement of immune function (Gomaa, Mohamed, Abd-Ellatief & Gomaa, 2021;Moussaieff & Mechoulam, 2009). C. myrrha is rich in furanodienone (Madia et al., 2021), an active compound that exhibits anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, and antioxidant effects (Batiha et al., 2023). ...
... Understanding these potential side effects is crucial for safe usage. One of the primary concerns is allergic reactions, which may manifest as rash, itching, swelling, or even difficulty breathing [54][55][56][57]. Individuals with known allergies to frankincense or similar resins should avoid its use to prevent these reactions. ...
Frankincense, derived from the resin of Boswellia species, has been valued for millennia across diverse cultures for its aromatic, medicinal, and economic significance. This review provides an in-depth analysis of frankincense, encompassing its historical development, geographical distribution, and trade dynamics. The paper examines the economic aspects of frankincense production, including its impact on local economies and global markets. Detailed attention is given to the plantation and harvesting practices, production statistics, and the chemical composition of frankincense. Various types and colours of frankincense are discussed, along with quality assessment criteria. The review explores the diverse properties and applications of frankincense products, including their benefits and potential side effects. Additionally, it addresses sustainable harvesting practices, conservation efforts, and regulatory considerations. The paper concludes with a summary of recent scientific research, current challenges in the industry, and future directions for exploration and improvement.
... The main active phyto-constituents of the plant are terpenoids (oleanolic, lupinane) and boswellic acid (β-boswellic acid, acetylβ-boswellic acid, 11-keto-β-boswellic acid, 3-acetyl-11-keto-βboswellic acid, α-boswellic acid, and acetyl-α-boswellic acid) (Kubmarawa et al., 2006), while others include macrocyclic diterpenoids, pentacyclic triterpenoids, tetracyclic triterpenoids, and a variety of essential oils (Moussaieff & Mechoulam, 2009). ...
According to my inherited custom, the dried West African Frankincense dalzielii undergo pyrolysis in a charcoal burner during religious services, actively undergoing metabolites' sublimation and the members eventually inhaled the resultant but major essential effluent smoke, and to date, the health benefits of the incense fragrance haven't been evaluated up till now, as traditionally used by our religious forefathers. The principle, "Let food be thy medicine, and medicine be thy food", advocated by Hippocrates (460-377 BC), the father of modern medicine is very germane. Hence, I thus investigated the beneficial role of B. dalzielii frankincense and myrrh smoke as it's usually applied during worship in most Catholic, Orthodox, Anglican, Taoist, and Buddhist Chinese religious centers, and as it perhaps modulates the adiposity, cardiac rate, systolic and diastolic values of high fat fed Wistar male rats, within an acute duration of 60days using Tail cuff measuring device. Rats (n =21) were used in this study and equally divided into three groups, within which the third group fed high-fat chow were exposed to 30g of B. dalzielii frankincense and myrrh smoke for one hour, emanating from incense-charcoal burner twice daily, morning and night for 60 days. During the period, weights of all the rodents were measured, noted twice a week, and at exactly 24 hours after the last exposure, cardiac rate, systolic and diastolic values were quantified using a Tail cuff device at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Ibadan. Group 2 assaulted with the high fat diet (HFD) only, revealed a significant increase in adiposity, blood pressure, and heartbeat, while group 3 co-exposed to the smoke of B. dalzielii resources with the HFD showed a significant reduction in the latter to near normal group. More so, agility and active responses in the co-treated group were of imminent accomplishment. This investigation demonstrated that B. dalzielii smoke could attenuate high fat diet triggered adiposity, positive inotropism, and high heart pressure.
... Its root extract promotes BCL2 phosphorylation and, like Taxol, suppresses the cell cycle in tumour cell lines in the G2/M phase. 100 Glycyrrhizin, the primary ingredient in root extract, is a triterpene glycoside that functions as an anti-proliferative agent against tumour cells, particularly breast cancer cell lines (MCF7) and HEP-2, and does so by inducing apoptosis [102,103]. Since Glycyrrhiza glabra root extract promotes apoptosis in HT-29 cells, it can be used to treat colon cancer [104]. ...
Cancer is a disease that has a major global impact on people. To treat and prevent this fatal condition, there is a constant need for novel therapeutics. Natural substances are gaining attention from science and study because they are thought to have fewer hazardous side effects than existing therapies like chemotherapy. Natural secondary metabolites produced by the plant kingdom are being investigated for the possibility of anticancer properties, which might lead to the creation of brand-new pharmaceuticals. New technologies are emerging to advance the field as a result of the success of these chemicals, that have been transformed into important medications for the treatment of cancer. Nanoparticles for nanomedicines are a new technology that aims to improve the anticancer effects of compounds produced from plants by managing the compound's release and researching alternative administration techniques. This article examines the demand for naturally occurring chemicals obtained from medicinal plants and how such compounds may potentially be used to treat cancer. Furthermore, it has been confirmed that a number of fruits, vegetables, and herbs can prevent or lower the occurrence of cancer in a number of different parts of the human body. In addition, researchers discovered that they are a far good site than synthetic ones for creating novel anticancer medications that are efficient, tolerable, and safe. As a result, scientists advised that future study concentrate more on using plants as a source for secure and efficient cancer treatments. Many natural substances and their analogues have been shown to be effective anti-cancer agents, and additional plants are being found to have anti-cancer properties every day. In this study, an attempt is being made to emphasize the natural products and their analogues that have been proved to be anti-cancer agents as well as the novel plant species that have been discovered to possess anti-cancer properties in vivo or in vitro.
Resins are important chemical constituents over other components in medicinal plants. They have maintained the different functions of plants as well as used for treatment of different diseases. Different variations of resins like oleoresins, oleogum-resins, glycoresins, balsams, acid resins, ester resins, alcoholic resins are precursor components among resins. Various plant show the resins as rich sources like Capsicum, Ginger, Jalap, Guggul, Myrrh, Cannabis, Asafoetida, Haridra, Colocynth, Kaladana etc. Those plants are grown and cultivated in all over the World. Those plants are belonging from various families like Umbelliferae, Solanaceae, Zingiberaceae, Cannabinaceae, etc. The resins are basically extracted out from different parts of the plants. Some resins are used for the treatment of ulcer, wounds, rheumatism, cancer, constipation, inflammation, arthritis, motion sickness worms in body. Besides, they are also used as astringent, antiseptic, diuretic, purgative, carminative, expectorant, antipruritic, hypolipidemic, cathartic, stomachic, appetizer, sedative, spice, condiment, flavoring agent, etc. The review article highlighted that definition, importance, various classification systems and distribution of resins among different plants from various families in all over the World.
The chemical characterization of natural products is often a complex task that demands powerful analytical techniques. Liquid chromatography with high-resolution tandem mass spectrometry (HRMS/MS) is often employed, yet it can face hard challenges when isomeric species are present, and reference standards are lacking. In such cases, the confidence level in compound identification can be significantly improved by the collection of orthogonal information on target analytes. In this work, 23 key compounds in Boswellia serrata extract (BSE), 12 of which correspond to boswellic acids (BAs) and 11 to triterpenoidic acid isomers, were identified by combining RPLC followed by serial UV and ESI(-)-FTMS and FTMS/MS detections with the evaluation of the reactivity towards C=C bond epoxidation with meta-chloroperoxybenzoic acid (m-CPBA), proposed as a fast chemical tool to gather information about C=C bond steric hindrance, a key structural feature of BAs and related compounds. The interpretation of UV spectra acquired after chromatographic separation corroborated the identification of the substitution patterns of enonic and dienic residues in ketoboswellic and dehydroboswellic acids. Moreover, MS/MS based on higher-energy collision-induced dissociation (HCD) unveiled new fragmentation pathways, providing important structural details on target analytes. The integrated approach developed during this study might pave the way for a deeper understanding of the BSE bioactive properties. Moreover, it can be considered an example of a more general strategy for the analysis of complex mixtures of natural compounds including also isomeric species.
Since ancient natural resins played an important role in the daily life and rituals of religious ceremonies due their aromatic odor various medicinal effects. Boswellia, one of the most important natural resins, is the subject of our research. The Boswellia plants belong to species of Bruceracera family. They produce fragrant resins given by laticiferous ducts through a process of incising the bark of the branches; a yellow gum is released, then becomes hard upon exposure to natural conditions in small granules known as Boswellia resins or frankincense.
Through the study of combinations and mixtures mentioned in some manuscripts and modern research, it was found that frankincense was used in several fields in different historical periods. It is still used in religious ceremonies in Roman Catholic, Episcopal, Orthodox and Indian churches.
Since ancient medicine, frankincense was used as antiseptic, anti-inflammatory and anti-bleeding. Over the last twenty years, scientists and pharmaceutical companies have been working to reveal the best types of frankincense, and its indications to highlight its various medical effects and identify the active constituents.
Therefore, the goal of this research is to compare the most important uses of frankincense in pharmaceutical products mentioned through the ancient civilizations with its modern uses. Its indications, impact mechanism and side effects, if exist, are determined
Cancer is one of the leading causes of death, despite advancements in health technologies and therapies. While effective, the treatment, chemotherapy can come with huge side effects. This review explores the diverse world of medicinal plants as potential cancer fighters. Numerous plant extracts have shown impressive anti-cancer properties in laboratory settings, offering a natural approach with potentially fewer side effects. However, further research is crucial to evaluate their efficacy and safety in human patients. This review will study the various medicinal plants and the chemical compounds that are promising as anticancer agents and will outline their potential mechanism of action.
This article deals with two details of the passion narratives: the wine mixed with myrrh (Mk 15.23) and the breaking of the legs of the two men crucified with Jesus (Jn 19.31-32). It is written jointly by a botanist (Kirsi Nisula), a physician (Jorma Toppari) and an exegete (Erkki Koskenniemi). Most scholars believe that the wine mixed with myrrh was used as analgesic and refer to b. Sanh. 43a. However, this passage does not deal with myrrh, which, moreover, has no strong analgesic effect. A small amount of myrrh in wine preserves it, but if it is used excessively, it makes the wine impossible to drink, and offering it to a man suffering from strong dehydration would be a form of torture. Breaking the legs was used widely as a deterrent punishment for the slaves, also without crucifixion, and it could lead to death. It was apparently common to break the legs of the crucified, which added to the deterrent effect, but also hurried their death.
Introduction: Boswellia serrata has been used in traditional medicine for treatment of inflammatory diseases since antiquity. However human kinetic studies are lacking for this. Hence to better elucidate its effects in humans and determine its optimal dosing, this study was planned.
Material and Methods: Twelve healthy adult men volunteers were given capsule Wok VelTM containing 333 mg of Boswellia Serrata Extract, orally, after a seven days washout period. Venous blood samples were drawn through indwelling canula from each volunteer prior to drug administration and at 30, 60, 120, 150, 180, 210, 240, 300, 360, 480, 600, 720, 840 minutes after drug administration. Plasma obtained after centrifuge was analyzed to measure concentration of 11-Keto β-Boswellic Acid (KBA) by HPLC. Various kinetic parameters were then calculated from the plasma concentrations.
Results: The results are expressed as mean ± Standard Error of Mean. The peak plasma levels (2.72 × 10–3 ± 0.18 μmoles/ml) of BSE were reached at 4.5 ± 0.55 h. The concentration declined with a mean elimination half life of 5.97 ± 0.95 h. The apparent volume of distribution averaged 142.87 ± 22.78 L and the plasma clearance was 296.10 ± 24.09 ml/min. The AUC 0– was 27.33 × 10–3 ± 1.99 μmoles/ml h.
Conclusion: Elimination half life of nearly six hours suggests that the drug needs to be given orally at the interval of six hours. The plasma concentration will attain the steady state after approximately 30 hours. BSE is a safe drug and well tolerated on oral administration. No adverse effects were seen with this drug when administered as single dose in 333 mg.
Studies on the pharmacology of the gum resin of Roxb. showed that its sedative and analgesic effects reside in the non-phenolic fraction. This fraction produced analgesic effect in albino rats as seen by both the hot-wire and mechanical compression methods. Both the sedative and analgesic effects of the fraction were antagonized by treatment of the animals with sub-analgesic dose of morphine hydrochloride.