Carnosal is a phenolic diterpene found in rosemary, sage, parsley, and oregano.
Links to Plants Containing Carnasol
RESEARCH
The listings of research below represents a compilation of scientific articles found on the topic, with a very brief overview description of each article/study. This compilation of research articles does not necessarily imply that there are adequate results to demonstrate safe and/or effective human use of any herb listed.
GENERAL
- Carnasol, as found in rosemary, demonstrated anti-cancer, antifungal, anti-inflammatory, anti-dermatitis activity in this review of research. From: de Oliveira, J. R., Camargo, S. E. A., & de Oliveira, L. D. (2019). Rosmarinus officinalis L.(rosemary) as therapeutic and prophylactic agent. Journal of Biomedical Science, 26(1), 5.
ANTI-CANCER
- Carnosic acid and carnosol constituents in Rosmarinus officinalis targeted multiple signaling pathways involved in cell cycle modulation and apoptosis and may be useful in treating prostate cancer. From: Petiwala, S. M., Puthenveetil, A. G., & Johnson, J. (2013). Polyphenols from the Mediterranean herb rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis) for prostate cancer. Frontiers in pharmacology, 4, 29.
- This summarized research on carnosal, as found in rosemary, sage, parsley, and oregano as an anti-cancer agent. From: Johnson, J. J. (2011). Carnosol: a promising anti-cancer and anti-inflammatory agent. Cancer letters, 305(1), 1-7.
- Carnosol, a component of rosemary, was cytotoxic against several acute lymphoblastic leukemia cells tested. From: Dörrie, J., Sapala, K., & Zunino, S. J. (2001). Carnosol-induced apoptosis and downregulation of Bcl-2 in B-lineage leukemia cells. Cancer letters, 170(1), 33-39.
- Rosemary extract and its constituents carnosol and ursolic acid applied topically reduced skin tumors of mice. From: Huang, M. T., Ho, C. T., Wang, Z. Y., Ferraro, T., Lou, Y. R., Stauber, K., … & Conney, A. H. (1994). Inhibition of skin tumorigenesis by rosemary and its constituents carnosol and ursolic acid. Cancer research, 54(3), 701-708.
- Rosemary and its constituents carnasol and carnosic acid showed a chemoprotective effect in human liver and bronchial cells in vitro. From: Offord, E. A., Macé, K., Avanti, O., & Pfeifer, A. M. (1997). Mechanisms involved in the chemoprotective effects of rosemary extract studied in human liver and bronchial cells. Cancer Letters, 114(1-2), 275-281.
ANTIBACTERIAL
- Rosemary and its constituents carnasol and carnosic acid showed activity against the bacteria Staphylococcus aureus. From: Oluwatuyi, M., Kaatz, G. W., & Gibbons, S. (2004). Antibacterial and resistance modifying activity of Rosmarinus officinalis. Phytochemistry, 65(24), 3249-3254.
ANTIDIABETIC
- Carnosic acid and carnosol constituents from rosemary and sage had a blood sugar lowering effect. From: Rau, O., Wurglics, M., Paulke, A., Zitzkowski, J., Meindl, N., Bock, A., … & Schubert-Zsilavecz, M. (2006). Carnosic acid and carnosol, phenolic diterpene compounds of the labiate herbs rosemary and sage, are activators of the human peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma. Planta medica, 72(10), 881-887.
ANTI-INFLAMMATORY
- Carnosol in rosemary showed anti-inflammatory and chemopreventive action in mice. From: Lo, A. H., Liang, Y. C., Lin-Shiau, S. Y., Ho, C. T., & Lin, J. K. (2002). Carnosol, an antioxidant in rosemary, suppresses inducible nitric oxide synthase through down-regulating nuclear factor-κB in mouse macrophages. Carcinogenesis, 23(6), 983-991. Link: https://doi.org/10.1093/carcin/23.6.983
- This article discusses the anti-inflammatory actions of carnosic acid and carnosol as found in rosemary and sage. From: Poeckel, D., Greiner, C., Verhoff, M., Rau, O., Tausch, L., Hörnig, C., … & Werz, O. (2008). Carnosic acid and carnosol potently inhibit human 5-lipoxygenase and suppress pro-inflammatory responses of stimulated human polymorphonuclear leukocytes. Biochemical pharmacology, 76(1), 91-97.
LIVER PROTECTIVE
- Carnosol showed a liver protective effect in rats. From: Sotelo-Félix, J. I., Martinez-Fong, D., & De la Torre, P. M. (2002). Protective effect of carnosol on CCl4-induced acute liver damage in rats. European journal of gastroenterology & hepatology, 14(9), 1001-1006.
ANTIOXIDANT
- This study evaluated antioxidant activity of rosemary extract and the active constituents carnosol, carnosic acid, and rosmarinic acid. From: Frankel, E. N., Huang, S. W., Aeschbach, R., & Prior, E. (1996). Antioxidant activity of a rosemary extract and its constituents, carnosic acid, carnosol, and rosmarinic acid, in bulk oil and oil-in-water emulsion. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 44(1), 131-135.
- This study assessed the types of antioxidant activity of rosemary constituents: rosmarinic acid, carnosic acid, carnasol, and rosmadial. From: Pérez-Fons, L., GarzÓn, M. T., & Micol, V. (2009). Relationship between the antioxidant capacity and effect of rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis L.) polyphenols on membrane phospholipid order. Journal of agricultural and food chemistry, 58(1), 161-171.
- Carnosol and carnosic acid as found in rosemary extract, demonstrate strong antioxidant activities. From: Aruoma, O. I., Halliwell, B., Aeschbach, R., & Löligers, J. (1992). Antioxidant and pro-oxidant properties of active rosemary constituents: carnosol and carnosic acid. Xenobiotica, 22(2), 257-268. Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.3109/00498259209046624
- Carnosic acid, carnosol and rosmarinic acid content in rosemary impacted radical-scavenging activity and the anti-inflammatory action was mainly based on the carnosic acid content. From: Kuhlmann, Annette, and Claudia Röhl. “Phenolic antioxidant compounds produced by in vitro. Cultures of Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis.) and their anti-inflammatory effect on lipopolysaccharide-activated microglia.” Pharmaceutical biology 44.6 (2006): 401-410. Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13880200600794063
- Antioxidant activities of carnosic acid and carnosol were demonstrated. From: Wijeratne, S. S., & Cuppett, S. L. (2007). Potential of rosemary (Rosemarinus officinalis L.) diterpenes in preventing lipid hydroperoxide-mediated oxidative stress in Caco-2 cells. Journal of agricultural and food chemistry, 55(4), 1193-1199.
CARDIAC HEALTH
- Carnosol, rosmanol, and epirosmanol had an inhibitory activity to LDL oxidation. From: Zeng, H. H., Tu, P. F., Zhou, K., Wang, H., Wang, B. H., & Lu, J. F. (2001). Antioxidant properties of phenolic diterpenes from Rosmarinus officinalis. Acta Pharmacologica Sinica, 22(12), 1094-1098.
WEIGHT CONTROL
- Carnosic acid and carnosol inhibited adipocytes in mice and might be usable in obesity-related diseases. From: Takahashi, T., Tabuchi, T., Tamaki, Y., Kosaka, K., Takikawa, Y., & Satoh, T. (2009). Carnosic acid and carnosol inhibit adipocyte differentiation in mouse 3T3-L1 cells through induction of phase2 enzymes and activation of glutathione metabolism. Biochemical and biophysical research communications, 382(3), 549-554.
Compiled by: Kathy Sadowski
Updated: 1/11/19
