Description
Rosemarinic acid is a caffeic acid ester found in many plants, including Melissa, Salvia, Ocimum, Rosmarinus, and Origanum. Rosemarinic acid exhibits antidepressant, neuroprotective, anti-inflammatory, anti-allergic, anti-angiogenic, anti-fibrotic, and chemopreventive activities. Rosemarinic acid inhibits GABA transaminase and decreases immobility time in animals undergoing the forced swim test. Additionally, rosemarinic acid inhibits aggregation of amyloid-β (Aβ) peptides, delaying progression of Alzheimer’s disease in vivo. In animal models of OVA-induced allergy, rosemarinic acid decreases levels of IgE, IL-6, IL-1β, and TNF-α, prevents expression of COX-2, and suppresses infiltration by mast cells and eosinophils. Rosemarinic acid also inhibits the formation of DMBA-induced oral tumors in animal models. This compound inhibits the proliferation of hepatic stellate cells, decreasing levels of α-SMA, CTGF, and TGF-β1 and preventing CCL4-induced hepatic fibrosis. Rosemarinic acid also inhibits Fyn, a Src family kinase involved in T-cell signaling. In vitro, rosemarinic acid decreases levels of ROS, VEGF, and IL-8, suppressing cellular proliferation, migration, adhesion, and tube formation.
References
Airoldi C, Sironi E, Dias C, et al. Natural compounds against Alzheimer's disease: molecular recognition of Aβ1-42 peptide by Salvia sclareoides extract and its major component, rosmarinic acid, as investigated by NMR. Chem Asian J. 2013 Mar;8(3):596-602. PMID: 23303581.
Anusuya C, Manoharan S. Antitumor initiating potential of rosmarinic acid in 7,12-dimethylbenz(a)anthracene-induced hamster buccal pouch carcinogenesis. J Environ Pathol Toxicol Oncol. 2011;30(3):199-211. PMID: 22126613.
Oh HA, Park CS, Ahn HJ, et al. Effect of Perilla frutescens var. acuta Kudo and rosmarinic acid on allergic inflammatory reactions. Exp Biol Med (Maywood). 2011 Jan;236(1):99-106. PMID: 21239739.
Li GS, Jiang WL, Tian JW, et al. In vitro and in vivo antifibrotic effects of rosmarinic acid on experimental liver fibrosis. Phytomedicine. 2010 Mar;17(3-4):282-8. PMID: 19524418.
Ito N, Yabe T, Gamo Y, et al. Rosmarinic acid from Perillae Herba produces an antidepressant-like effect in mice through cell proliferation in the hippocampus. Biol Pharm Bull. 2008 Jul;31(7):1376-80. PMID: 18591778.
Jelić D, Mildner B, Kostrun S, et al. Homology modeling of human Fyn kinase structure: discovery of rosmarinic acid as a new Fyn kinase inhibitor and in silico study of its possible binding modes. J Med Chem. 2007 Mar 22;50(6):1090-100. PMID: 17315853.
Huang SS, Zheng RL. Rosmarinic acid inhibits angiogenesis and its mechanism of action in vitro. Cancer Lett. 2006 Aug 8;239(2):271-80. PMID: 16239062.
