Study on Association Between Skin Cell Toxicity of 33 Pungent Essential Oils and Drug Property Characteristics of Chinese Materia Medica

OBJECTIVE To analyze the preliminary regulation between the skin cell toxicity of EOs and drug property characteristics of Chinese materia medica(CMM) on the same platform. METHODS The physicochemical parameters of 33 kinds of EOs were measured. MTT assays were applied to evaluate the cell toxicity of EOs on human HaCaT keratinocytes. Finally， data mining technique was applied to analyse experimental data for the purpose to illustrate the relationship between skin cell toxicity of EOs and drug properties of CMMs. RESULTS By non-linear canonical correlation analysis， high correlation（P=0.0411<0.05） was found between skin cell toxicity of EOs and channel tropism property of CMMs. EOs with the properties of liver， lung， stomach， kidney and large intestine channel possess lower skin cell toxicity. However， EOs with the properties of heart， pericardium， spleen， bladder， san-jiao and gall bladder channel possess higher skin cell toxicity. A mathematical model between drug property including four mature， five flavor， channel tropism of CMMs and skin cell toxicity of EOs was established based on non-linear canonical correlation analysis. In the model， significant correlation was found（P=0.0414<0.05）. EOs from CMMs with the properties of cool nature， bitter flavor plus liver or lung or kidney or large intestine channel might be superior in safety towards the skin cells. On contrary， EOs from CMMs with the properties of hot nature， sweet flavor plus heart or pericardium or spleen or bladder or san-jiao or gall bladder channel might be superior in toxicity towards the skin cells. CONCLUSION The skin cell toxicity of EOs is affected by drug property characteristics of CMMs， especially channel tropism property.