Carnosic Acid

Carnosic acid is a diterpene found in rosemary and sage.

Links to Plants Containing Carnosic Acid

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

• Carnosic acid found in rosemary demonstrated anti-cancer, anti-tumor, anti-inflammatory, and digestive aid activities.  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.

ANTIOXIDANT

• Seasonal variation in key antioxidant constituents in rosemary exist.  From:  Luis, J. C., & Johnson, C. B. (2005). Seasonal variations of rosmarinic and carnosic acids in rosemary extracts. Analysis of their in vitro antiradical activity. Spanish Journal of Agricultural Research, 3(1), 106-112.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.

NEUROPROTECTIVE

• Neuroprotective effects of carnosic acid is discussed.  From:  Tamaki, Y., Tabuchi, T., Takahashi, T., Kosaka, K., & Satoh, T. (2010). Activated glutathione metabolism participates in protective effects of carnosic acid against oxidative stress in neuronal HT22 cells. Planta medica, 76(07), 683-688.

CARDIAC HEALTH

• The antiplatelet activity of carnosic acid was demonstrated. From:  Lee, J. J., Jin, Y. R., Lee, J. H., Yu, J. Y., Han, X. H., Oh, K. W., … & Yun, Y. P. (2007). Antiplatelet activity of carnosic acid, a phenolic diterpene from Rosmarinus officinalis. Planta medica, 73(02), 121-127.
• Carnosic acid has anti-inflammatory properties that could reduce atherosclerosis.  From:  Yu, Y. M., Lin, H. C., & Chang, W. C. (2008). Carnosic acid prevents the migration of human aortic smooth muscle cells by inhibiting the activation and expression of matrix metalloproteinase-9. British Journal of Nutrition, 100(04), 731-738.

ANTI-INFLAMMATORY

• 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.  Link:  http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.bcp.2008.04.013

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.

SUNSCREEN

• Vitamin C, vitamin E, and carnosic acid showed photoprotective human skin potential.  From: Offord, E. A., Gautier, J. C., Avanti, O., Scaletta, C., Runge, F., Krämer, K., & Applegate, L. A. (2002). Photoprotective potential of lycopene, β-carotene, vitamin E, vitamin C and carnosic acid in UVA-irradiated human skin fibroblasts. Free Radical Biology and Medicine, 32(12), 1293-1303.  Link:  http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0891-5849(02)00831-6

ANTIOXIDANT

• 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.

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.

ANTICANCER

• 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.
• Carnosic acid as found in rosemary (as well as sage) showed a chemoprotective effect against aflotoxins contaminating food. From:  Costa, S., Utan, A., Speroni, E., Cervellati, R., Piva, G., Prandini, A., & Guerra, M. C. (2007). Carnosic acid from rosemary extracts: a potential chemoprotective agent against aflatoxin B1. An in vitro study. Journal of applied toxicology, 27(2), 152-159.
• 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.
• Rosemary and its constituent carnosic acid were effective in treating mouse myeloid leukemia.  From:  Shabtay, A., Sharabani, H., Barvish, Z., Kafka, M., Amichay, D., Levy, J., … & Danilenko, M. (2008). Synergistic antileukemic activity of carnosic acid-rich rosemary extract and the 19-nor Gemini vitamin D analogue in a mouse model of systemic acute myeloid leukemia. Oncology, 75(3-4), 203-214.
• A vitamin D3 derivative combined with carnosic acid reduced myeloid leukemia in vitro. From:  Sharabani, H., Izumchenko, E., Wang, Q., Kreinin, R., Steiner, M., Barvish, Z., … & Studzinski, G. P. (2006). Cooperative antitumor effects of vitamin D3 derivatives and rosemary preparations in a mouse model of myeloid leukemia. International journal of cancer, 118(12), 3012-3021.
• Carnosic acid showed inhibition of human myeloid leukemia cells.  From:  Steiner, M., Priel, I., Giat, J., Levy, J., Sharoni, Y., & Danilenko, M. (2001). Carnosic acid inhibits proliferation and augments differentiation of human leukemic cells induced by 1, 25-dihydroxyvitamin dsub3 and retinoic acid. Nutrition and cancer, 41(1-2), 135-144.
• Carnosic acid reduced human promyelocytic leukaemia cells in vitro.   From:  Wang, R., Li, H., Guo, G., Li, X., Yu, X., Li, H., … & Chen, X. (2008). Augmentation by carnosic acid of apoptosis in human leukaemia cells induced by arsenic trioxide via upregulation of the tumour suppressor PTEN. Journal of International Medical Research, 36(4), 682-690.

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

Last Updated: 1/11/19