Herbs: Melissa officinalis
Just strained out the herb and bottled the tincture: Melissa (lemon balm) in lemon vodka. When are we having screwdrivers?
Melissa cintronelle
traditional herbal medicine
contemporary usage as a mild sedative, spasmolytic and antibacterial agent
in vitro cholinergic binding properties
extremely lemony
lemon balm
the gladdening herb
upper
some reseach shows it works on dopamine
also antiviral, colds, herpes, EO as topical
thyroxine production decrease if excessive, regulates TSH release mb via dopa
Melissa = Greek for honey bee
grows here like a weed, likes wet areas
native to Mediterranean region
family: Lamiaceae
CONSTITUENTS
eugenol (antibact, calm mm, numbing)
tannins (antiviral)
terpenes (soothing)
EOs: citronellal (24%), geranial (16%), linalyl acetate (12%) and caryophyllene (12%)
ESSENTIAL OIL
good oil to distill at home, highly volatile and one of the better yield plants
1mL = 30 drops
works best at 1/100 dilution with base oil
calming effect
topical for warts, viral
ACTIONS
weak antibacterial
antiviral (good vs HSV-1, http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8390134, and HSV-2, A Allahverdiyev, N Duran, M Ozguven, S Koltas - Phytomedicine, 2004 - Elsevier)
anxiolytic, mild sedative (rosmarinic acid inhibits GABA transaminase)
antispasmodic
improves mood and mental performance (mbdt muscarinic and nicotinic acetylcholine receptor binding)
small Iranian 2002 study shows cognitive performance benefit for mild-mod Alzheimer pts
(http://jnnp.bmj.com/content/74/7/863.abstract)
antioxidant (10x more than vit C or E: https://www.thieme-connect.com/ejournals/abstract/plantamedica/doi/10.1055/s-2006-957513)
inhibits TSH from attaching to TSH receptors (used for Graves' dz)
EO popular in aromatherapy, often mixed with lemon, citronella, etc
EO is anti-tumor!
in-vitro cytotoxicity assay-->EO v effective vs human cancer cell lines
(A549, MCF-7, Caco-2, HL-60, K562) and a mouse cell line (B16F10)
oil also antioxidant, reduction of 1,1-diphenyl-2-picryl-hydrazyl (DPPH)
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1211/0022357023321/abstract
Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmacology
Volume 56, Issue 5, pages 677-681, May 2004
EO is antispasmodic on mice ileum
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6VSC-48XH7DR-5&_user=10&_coverDate=07/31/2003&_rdoc=1&_fmt=high&_orig=search&_origin=search&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_searchStrId=1508633616&_rerunOrigin=scholar.google&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=f482141e54a68867d362628f78a2774c&searchtype=a
1991 French study on mice:
sedative effect confirmed, sleep induction, and peripheral analgesic effect with high dose
(https://www.thieme-connect.com/ejournals/abstract/plantamedica/doi/10.1055/s-2006-960042)
2004 study Belgrade, Serbia and Montenegro
EO shows strong antioxidant activity, slows lipid peroxidation
also effective antifungal esp against Trichophyton
best antibacterial activity against Shigonella
http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/jf030698a
a 2002 study
Modulation of mood and cognitive performance following acute administration of Melissa officinalis
acute effects on cognition and mood of a standardised extract of M. officinalis
n = 20 healthy, young peeps getting single doses of 300, 600 and 900 mg or placebo
7 day intervals
assessed cognitive performance
also calculated in vitro IC50 concentrations for the displacement of [3H]-(N)-nicotine and [3H]-(N)-scopolamine from nicotinic and muscarinic receptors in human occipital cortex
result: sustained improvement in Accuracy of Attention following 600 mg of Melissa
result: time- and dose-specific reductions in both Secondary Memory and Working Memory
result: Self-rated “calmness” (assessed by Bond-Lader mood scale) elevated early at low dose
result: “alertness” sig reduced at all time points following the highest dose
nicotinic and muscarinic binding low relative to prev studies
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6T0N-45PK7GT-2&_user=10&_coverDate=07/31/2002&_rdoc=1&_fmt=high&_orig=search&_origin=search&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_searchStrId=1508614412&_rerunOrigin=scholar.google&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=996ea6b8cf08737c83f7ae67b5ecc8ca&searchtype=a
2004 UK
600-mg dose of Melissa ameliorated the negative mood effects of the DISS
Defined Intensity Stressor Simulation (DISS) battery
http://www.psychosomaticmedicine.org/cgi/content/abstract/66/4/607
HORMONAL AND NEUROTRANSMITTER EFFECTS (Stansbury)
incr prolactin-->galactogogue
incr dopamine (so does st jw, vitex) used as antidepressant
folklorics for hyperthyroidism: melissa, lycopus, leonurus
won't make normal person hypo (Stansbury)
melissa and lavendar for PCOS, thyroid dz
SOURCES
Stansbury lectures
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melissa_officinalis
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6T0N-45PK7GT-2&_user=10&_coverDate=07/31/2002&_rdoc=1&_fmt=high&_orig=search&_origin=search&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_searchStrId=1508614412&_rerunOrigin=scholar.google&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=996ea6b8cf08737c83f7ae67b5ecc8ca&searchtype=a
https://www.thieme-connect.com/ejournals/abstract/plantamedica/doi/10.1055/s-2006-957513
http://jnnp.bmj.com/content/74/7/863.abstract
https://www.thieme-connect.com/ejournals/abstract/plantamedica/doi/10.1055/s-2006-960042
http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/jf030698a
http://www.psychosomaticmedicine.org/cgi/content/abstract/66/4/607
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6VSC-48XH7DR-5&_user=10&_coverDate=07/31/2003&_rdoc=1&_fmt=high&_orig=search&_origin=search&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_searchStrId=1508633616&_rerunOrigin=scholar.google&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=f482141e54a68867d362628f78a2774c&searchtype=a
drought is hard on Melissa
http://www.publish.csiro.au/paper/PP99107.htm