A number of plants have “chamomile” as part of their common name. For medicinal use, German chamomile (Matricaria recutita) is by far the most popular, but Roman chamomile (Chamaemelum nobile) is also used. These plants belong to the Asteraceae family. The flower heads are the primary plant parts used in herbal medicine.
Uses and Benefits:
German and Roman chamomile have been employed rnedicinally for centuries, dating back to Egyptian and Roman Gras. Chamomile is most often adopted as an anti-inflammatory, antispasmodic, and calming agent. It is used topically to treat inflammatory skin and mucous membrane disorders, or orally for minor colicky digestive problems and anxiety or nervousness. It is also extensively used as a beverage, food additive, and flavoring agent, and in cosmetic, bath, and hair products.
Pharmacology:
Constituents of chamomile considered to be most pharmacologically active include the terpenoids (e.g., alphabisabolol and bisabolol oxide derivatives, farnesene, matricine, and chamazulene). These constituents are derived from the essential oil obtained from the flower head of the plant. Other important constituents that are more hydrophilic include the flavonoids (e.g., apigenin and luteolin), coumarins, and a mucilage.
In vitro, chamomile constituents can inhibit the inflammatory mediators of the arachidonic acid cascade such as 5-lipoxygenase and cyclo-oxygenase. 3 Flavonoid compounds reportedly have in vitro anti-inflammatory effects similar to low-dose indomethacin. 1 Numerous animal studies have also evaluated the anti-inflammatory effects of chamomile. In one study, mice exposed to an inflammatory skin agent had a reduction in edema and inflammation when treated with an extract of chamomile compared to placebo.
Sedative and antispasmodic activities also have been demonstrated. The flavonoid apigenin appears to bind to central benzodiazepine receptors. The essential oil of chamomile reduced experimentally induced spasm of pig small intestine, resulting in decreased tonus cytotec santa cruz and peristalsis compared to placebo. The terpenoid alpha-bisabolol was noted to inhibit the development of stomach ulceration following treatment of rats with indomethacin, stressful stimuli, or alcohol.
Clinical Trials:
. Topical Uses-Most clinical trials have reported benefits with topical applications of chamomile for the treatment of mucositis and dermatitis. Many are uncontrolled or open studies, and results are not well substantiated in randomized controlled trials (RCTs). For example, a chamomile oral rinse was used during head and neck radiation and/or chemotherapy in an uncontrolled series of 98 patients. With a prophylactic chamomile rinse, only 1 of 20 patients receiving radiation therapy developed mucositis, and 10 of 46 patients receiving chemotherapy developed mucositis. 8 However, in a relatively large, double-blind RCT, patients receiving chemotherapy were given chamomile or placebo mouthwash t. i.d. for 14 days. No differences were noted between the treatment and placebo groups.9 In another double-blind RCT, 48 women who had surgery for local breast cancer applied chamomile cream or almond ointment to the affected breast during radiation therapy.1o Neither agent prevented radiation-induced skin changes, and there was no significant difference between the two treatments.
For inflammatory skin disorders, topically administered chamomile appears to have very mild effects. In an open comparative trial of 161 patients with an inflammatory dermatosis, a German chamomile cream was found to have similar efficacy to low-potency (0.25%) hydrocortisone. In a partially double-blind RCT of patients with eczema, a chamomile cream was more effective than a 0.5% hydrocortisone cream, but the effects were also no different from a placebo (vehicle) cream. In a double-blind placebo-controlled trial, a chamomile extract was reported to decrease weeping in surgical wounds after dermabrasion of tattoos(pAdverse Effects: