Essential oils not only exhibit numerous effects on human mental and physical states, but also on pathogens in infectious diseases; However, the molecular mechanism of the in vivo actions of essential oils' chemical compounds has not yet been investigated. In this study, we aimed to investigate the antibacterial functions of chemical compounds in essential oils against two major infectious disease pathogens, Mycobacterium and Staphylococcus, using various chemoinformatics methods. We performed docking simulations using 343 structures of chemical compounds in commonly used essential oils and 50 structures of drug target proteins in the two bacterial strains. Based on the simulation results, we selected 23 essential oils that contained potential antibacterial chemical compounds. We evaluated these essential oils to check if they exhibit antibacterial activity against Mycobacterium and Staphylococcus. Six essential oils exhibited antibacterial activity against one or both bacterial strains. Specific combinations of particular essential oils also exhibited strong synergistic antibacterial effects. Furthermore, seven purified compounds proposed both by experimentation and the docking simulations exhibited antibacterial activity on one or both bacterial strains, and combinations of these compounds exhibited strong synergistic antibacterial activity. We also predicted binding models of the active chemical structures with the drug target proteins. These results suggest that the application of chemoinformatics to the study of essential oil functions is useful for understanding their actions at the molecular level.

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Xerostomia may cause periodontal disease; dental caries; impairments in speech, taste sensations, and ability to swallow; etc. The purpose of this study is to elucidate whether aromatherapy has an effect on xerostomia. Twenty patients with xerostomia (64.3±10.8 years of age) were recruited. We compared factors such as unstimulated salivary volume, discomfort in the mouth, and activity of amylase in the saliva in approximately aromatherapy. Our results indicate that aromatherapy may have an effect on xerostomia. It is necessary to evaluate the effect of adaptation and long-term use of aromatherapy in future.

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This study evaluated the effects of short-duration aromatherapy massage (AM) on state anxiety and state self-esteem. Six healthy graduate students completed a 5-min pre-rest and either an AM or rest intervention followed by a 15-min post-rest before going to a desk. They filled out self-report measures of state anxiety and state self-esteem at three points: after the pre-rest, after the intervention, and after moving to the desk. Each received six interventions: 20-min, 10-min, and 5-min AM and 20-min, 10-min, and 5-min rest. Sweet orange essential oil was used in all AM interventions. Both state anxiety (p=.007) and state self-esteem (p=.047) after moving to the desk differed significantly between AM and rest conditions. In the AM condition, state anxiety decreased significantly (p=.024) and state self-esteem increased significantly (p=.038). State anxiety, but not state self-esteem, differed significantly between AM and rest conditions in all three durations. In a correlation analysis, state self-esteem noticeably differed between AM and rest conditions only in the 20-min condition. Results suggest that state anxiety may be reduced by a 5-min AM but state self-esteem may require a lengthier intervention.

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