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Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPARs) are drug targets for several perturbations of metabolic syndrome, defined as the coexistence of obesity, hyperglycemia, hypertension, and hyper/dyslipidemia. In this study, PPAR activation by oregano (e.g., Origanum vulgare) and its components was tested. Oregano extracts bind but do not transactivate PPARgamma, and binding affinity differs among different oregano extracts. The extracts contain PPARgamma antagonists (e.g., quercetin, luteolin, rosmarinic acid, and diosmetin), selective PPARgamma modulators (e.g., naringenin and apigenin), and PPARgamma agonists (e.g., biochanin A). Oregano extract and isolated compounds in the extract antagonize rosiglitazone-mediated DRIP205/TRAP220 recruitment to PPARgamma, pointing to oregano extracts as putative food supplements for weight reduction. Rosmarinic acid and biochanin A, PPARalpha agonists, may ameliorate the lipid profile. By endothelial nitric oxide synthase activation, oregano extract could prevent atherosclerosis. The results warrant further investigation of oregano extract for its potential to prevent and ameliorate metabolic syndrome and its complications.

The chemical compositions of the essential oil compounds of 117 individual plants belonging to 11 Syrian populations of Origanum syriacum L. (Lamiaceae) were studied by GC-FID and GC-MS. The composition was dominated by carvacrol and/or thymol with a high degree of polymorphism in the occurrence of these two compounds between the different populations. In three populations carvacrol was dominating, with thymol being present only in minor amounts, whereas in only one population thymol was the main compound, with carvacrol only in traces. In all other populations both carvacrol and thymol were present as major compounds. No geographical pattern could be detected for the occurrence of the chemotypes. Thymoquinone, a promising anticancer candidate, was present in the extracts in a wide range between 0.04 and 23.7%.

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