Alleviation of acute stress response by black pepper (Piper nigrum) aroma administration

Abstract Black pepper is a popular spice globally. Black pepper essential oil could be beneficial in aromatherapy under stressful conditions. This study examined the effect of black pepper aroma on cardiac and peripheral autonomic nervous system (ANS) activity under stressful conditions using an olfactometer to administer aroma in a precise and controlled manner to ensure reproducibility. A within-participant design experiment was conducted with 20 male students who performed a 30 min calculation task as a short-term stressor under three aroma conditions: black pepper, ginger, and dipropylene glycol (DPG). Electrocardiograms and skin conductance level (SCL) were measured for evaluating the physiological acute stress response on ANS. Subjective evaluations and impressions on the types of aroma were assessed. The physiological acute stress response induced by the short-term stressor, which is characterized by the enhancement of the heart rate (HR) and SCL and decreases in the heart rate variability (HRV), was significantly suppressed with black pepper than with DPG(p =0.048, HR and p = 0.002, HRV) and ginger (p = 0.005, SCL); however, there was no significant difference in subjective scores among the conditions. Although black pepper is a stimulative agent, the findings showed that it alleviated the physiological acute stress response.</jats:p

Alleviation of physiological stress response by apple aroma

Objective The study evaluated the potential of apple aroma to alleviate physiological stress response induced by a short-term cognitive stressor. It investigated the effects of apple aroma on cardiac and peripheral autonomic nervous system activity under stressful conditions.Methods Within-subject experiments were conducted with 25 healthy male university students with a 30-minute calculation task under three conditions: Apple, Chamomile (CHA), and Di propylene glycol (DPG) (scentless air). The aroma administration was precisely controlled and counterbalanced. Cardiac activity on electrocardiograms and nose tip temperature were recorded throughout the experiment. A visual analog scale and a scent questionnaire were subjective measures.Results Apple aroma demonstrated a significantly smaller increase in heart rate (t [24] = 3.36, p = 0.008 vs. DPG, t [24] = 4.06, p = 0.001 vs. CHA), and a decrease in the high-frequency component of heart rate variability (t [24] = 2.81, p = 0.029 vs. DPG, t [24] = 3.48, p = 0.006 vs. CHA) compared to the other conditions, representing a smaller enhancement of cardiac sympathetic nervous system activity and smaller suppression of cardiac parasympathetic nervous system activity respectively.Conclusion Apple aroma showed efficacy in alleviating the physiological stress response in terms of cardiac activity. Apple was also considered significantly preferable and comfortable compared to the other conditions, which would be beneficial in the context of aromatherapy

An immunoassay for the detection of triclosan-O-glucuronide, a primary human urinary metabolite of triclosan

Triclosan-O-glucuronide (TCSG) is one of the primary urinary metabolites of the antibacterial compound triclosan or TCS that is found in many personal care products and consumer goods. We have developed a competitive, indirect heterologous ELISA for the detection of the target TCSG in urine. Such an ELISA for TCSG could be developed as a useful tool to measure this important biomarker of human exposure to TCS. Immunogens were prepared by conjugating TCSG to thyroglobulin, via heterobifunctional cross-linkers AEDP or 3-[(2-aminoethyl)dithio] propionic acid•hydrochloride and TFCS or N-[ε-trifluoroacetylcaproyloxy]succinimide ester. The coating antigen was prepared by the direct conjugation of TCSG to bovine serum albumin. Antibodies raised in rabbits 2619, 2621 (immunogen TCSG-AEDP-Thy) and 2623 (immunogen TCSG-TFCS-Thy) and the coating antigen were screened and characterized to determine their optimal concentrations. The optimized ELISA, developed with antibody 2621, gave an IC(50) value of 2.85 ng/mL, with the linear range (IC(20) – IC(80)) determined to be 2.6 – 24.8 ng/mL. Selectivity of the assay was assessed by measuring cross-reactivity of antibody 2621 to related congeners such as the aglycone TCS, triclosan-O-sulfate, triclocarban, a polybrominated diphenyl ether derivative and 3-phenoxybenzyl alcohol glucuronide. There was virtually no recognition by antibody 2621 to any of these cross-reactants