2010 Volume 46 Issue 1 Pages 65-75
The aim of the present study is to determine the chemical composition of the essential oil extracted from the flowers of Anthemis mauritiana Maire & Sennen (EOAM) and to investigate its antispasmodic effects on intestinal smooth muscle. The phytochemical composition was revealed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometer. Eighteen compounds were identified representing 90.56% of the oil. The major constituents were described as α-pinene (27.02%), sabinene (15.25%), cedrenol (14.53%) germacrene (9.61%) geraniol formate (6.82%), and caryophylene (5.38%). EOAM (10-100 μg/ml) elicited reversible relaxation of spontaneous contractions of isolated rabbit jejunal smooth muscle preparations, and similarly inhibited contractions induced by high-potassium solution ([K+]o = 76 mM) and carbachol (10-6 M) with IC50 values of 14.98 and 27.29 μg/ml, respectively. Furthermore, EOAM exhibited an inhibitory effect on the dose-response curves induced by carbachol and CaCl2 on rat jejunum preparations. These results clearly demonstrated the antispasmodic effect of EOAM which was strongly suggested to be mainly due to an inhibitory effect on Ca2+ influx through the membrane of jejunal smooth muscle cells.
