The antimicrobial activities and action-mechanism of tea tree oil against food-borne bacteria in fresh cucumber juice.

BACKGROUND: Foodborne diseases caused by foodborne pathogens have increasingly become a worldwide public health concern. Due to potential harmful effects of synthetic chemicals, there is a pressure for adoption of natural alternatives to obtain microbial safety of food. Tea tree oil (TTO) exhibited a wide range of pharmacological actions attribute to the broad spectrum activities. However, to the best of our knowledge, no systematic research on the mode of antibacterial actions of TTO against Listeria monocytogenes (L. monocytogenes) and Escherichia coli (E. coli) in vitro models have been conducted so far. RESULTS: The present investigation reported on the antimicrobial activities of TTO and examined its possible antimicrobial mode of action against L. monocytogenes and E. coli. Results showed that the susceptibility of L. monocytogenes were excellent with the lower minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) values and larger inhibition zones. TTO changed the integrity of the membrane, as evidenced by the release of 260 nm absorbing intracellular materials and the alteration of membrane potential. The results of flow cytometry showed that TTO caused bacterial membrane permeabilization in a dose-dependent manner. The remarkable cellular morphological changes in bacteria caused by TTO were observed using the scanning electron microscope, indicating cell damage. In addition, antimicrobial preserving properties of TTO were evaluated by time-kill assay after its incorporation in cucumber juice, the results showed TTO successfully inhibited L. monocytogenes and E. coli development, at room temperature and in refrigerator (25 °C and 4 °C) respectively, demonstrating it had good preservative activities in food system. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggested that TTO exhibited good antimicrobial effect against food-borne pathogens and could be potentially used in food industries as a food preservative.

Pulmonary delivery of tea tree oil-ß-cyclodextrin inclusion complexes for the treatment of fungal and bacterial pneumonia.

OBJECTIVES: Bacterial pneumonia is a common cause of death worldwide. Tea tree oil (TTO) is a potent antimicrobial natural product, which is formulated in dry powder inhalers (DPIs) for the treatment of fungal and bacterial pneumonia. METHODS: Tea tree oil-ß-cyclodextrin inclusion complexes (TTO-ß-CD) were prepared and characterized. Aerodynamic properties of TTO-ß-CD powders were measured. The rat models of fungal (Candida albicans) and bacterial (Acinetobacter baumannii) pneumonia were prepared. Saline, TTO, TTO-ß-CD and the positive drug (fluconazole or penicillin) were directly delivered to the rat lungs. Pathological and biological assays were conducted. KEY FINDINGS: Tea tree oil-ß-CD powders had an appropriate aerodynamic diameter of 5.59 µm and the fine particle fraction of 51.22%, suitable for pulmonary delivery. TTO-ß-CD showed higher and similar antipneumonic effects on the rat models than fluconazole and penicillin, respectively. The effects of TTO-ß-CD were higher than TTO alone. The antipneumonic mechanisms involved blocking the recruitment of leucocytes and neutrophils, eliminating the microbes, downregulating pro-inflammatory cytokines (including tumour necrosis factor-α, interleukin-1ß and interleukin-6), suppressing cyclooxygenase 2 expression, and further reducing lung injury. CONCLUSIONS: Inhaled TTO-ß-CD powders have the advantages of portability, high stability, self-administration, high lung deposition and good antipneumonic effect. It is a promising DPI for the treatment of fungal and bacterial pneumonia.

What you see may not always be what you get--bioavailability and extrapolation from in vitro tests.

In human risk assessment, bioavailability needs to be considered when relying on in vitro toxicity results. For single chemicals, this quantitative challenge is often handled through a bioavailability factor. For mixtures, however, things are more complicated. Thus, individual constituents may not only interact toxicodynamically and toxicokinetically, but the composition of constituents reaching the target site may also differ from what was present at the site of exposure due to the differences in their bioavailabilities. A recent study concluded on the in vivo potential of Australian tea-tree oil (TTO) to act as an endocrine disruptor based on an in vitro protocol measuring the growth of MCF-7 cells following chemical exposure to TTO. TTO is primarily used topically in humans, and is not a single chemical but is a mixture with some constituents penetrating the skin which others do not. The present study evaluated in an identical in vitro model to what extent TTO and its skin penetrating constituents affected the growth of MCF-7 cells. The estrogenic potency of TTO was confirmed, but none of the bioavailable TTO constituents demonstrated estrogenicity. The present study, therefore, cautions in vitro to in vivo extrapolations from the mixtures of constituents with potentially varying bioavailabilities.

Commentary to the article "Human skin penetration of the major components of Australian tea tree oil applied in its pure form and as a 20% solution in vitro".

This note summarises recent studies on skin penetration of terpinen-4-ol, which is the main component of tea tree oil [S.E. Cross, M. Russell, I. Southwell, M.S. Roberts, Human skin penetration of the major components of Australian tea tree oil applied in its pure form and as a 20% solution in vitro, Eur. J. Pharm. Biopharm. doi: 10.1016/j.ejpb.2007.10.002 (in press)]. The influence of different experimental models on obtained skin penetration results is discussed.

In vitro studies on release and human skin permeation of Australian tea tree oil (TTO) from topical formulations.

Essential oils are widely used in pharmaceutical and cosmetic preparations e.g. as fragrance, active ingredient or penetration enhancer. However, reports on skin absorption are rare. Therefore, the aim of our study was to investigate the capability of terpinen-4-ol, the main compound of Australian tea tree oil (TTO), to permeate human skin. In static Franz diffusion cells permeation experiments with heat separated human epidermis were carried out using infinite dosing conditions and compared to liberation experiments. The flux values of three different semisolid preparations with 5% TTO showed the rank order semisolid O/W emulsion (0.067 microl/cm2 h) > white petrolatum (0.051 microl/cm2 h) > ambiphilic cream (0.022 microl/cm2 h). In comparison to the flux value obtained with the native TTO (0.26 microl/cm2 h), the flux values are remarkably reduced due to the lower amount of terpinen-4-ol. P(app) values for cream (2.74+/-0.06 x 10(-7) cm/s) and native TTO (1.62+/-0.12 x 10(-7) cm/s) are comparable whereas white petrolatum (6.36+/-0.21 x 10(-7) cm/s) and semisolid O/W emulsion (8.41+/-0.15 x 10(-7) cm/s) demonstrated higher values indicating a penetration enhancement. No relationship between permeation and liberation was found.

Inhibition of acetylcholinesterase by Tea Tree oil.

Pediculosis is a widespread condition reported in schoolchildren. Treatment most commonly involves the physical removal of nits using fine-toothcombs and the chemical treatment of adult lice and eggs with topical preparations. The active constituents of these preparations frequently exert their effects through inhibition of acetylcholinesterase (AChE, EC 3.1.1.7). Increasing resistance to many preparations has led to the search for more effective treatments. Tea Tree oil, otherwise known as Melaleuca oil, has been added to several preparations as an alternative treatment of head lice infestations. In this study two major constituents of Tea Tree oil, 1,8-cineole and terpinen-4-ol, were shown to inhibit acetylcholinesterase at IC50 values (inhibitor concentrations required to give 50% inhibition) of 0.04 and 10.30 mM, respectively. Four samples of Tea Tree oil tested (Tisserand, Body Treats, Main Camp and Irish Health Culture Association Pure Undiluted) showed anticholinesterase activity at IC50 values of 0.05, 0.10, 0.08 and 0.11 microL mL(-1), respectively. The results supported the hypothesis that the insecticidal activity of Tea Tree oil was attributable, in part, to the anticholinesterase activity of Tea Tree oil.