Efficacy of bergamot: From anti‐inflammatory and anti‐oxidative mechanisms to clinical applications as preventive agent for cardiovascular morbidity, skin diseases, and mood alterations

Abstract

We summarize the effects of bergamot (extract, juice, essential oil, and polyphenolic fraction) on cardiovascular, bone, inflammatory, skin diseases, mood alteration, anxiety, pain, and stress. This review included a total of 31 studies (20 studies on humans with 1709 subjects and 11 in animals (rats and mice)). In humans, bergamot‐derived extract (BE) exerts positive effects on hyperlipidemia with an oral dose from 150 mg to 1000 mg/day of flavonoids administered from 30 to 180 days, demonstrating an effect on body weight and in modulating total cholesterol, triglycerides, LDL, and HDL. Studies in animals confirm promising data on glucose control (500/1000 mg/day of BE with a treatment lasting 30 days) are available in rats. In animals models, bergamot essential oil (BEO, 10 mg/kg or 20 mg/kg daily for 20 weeks) increases bone volume, decreases psoriatic plaques, increases skin collagen content, and promotes hair growth. Bergamot juice (20 mg/kg) is promising in terms of pro‐inflammatory cytokine reduction. In humans, aromatherapy (from 15 to 30 min) does not appear to be useful in order to reduce stress, anxiety, and nausea, compared to placebo. Compared to baseline, BE topical application and BEO aromatherapy reduce blood diastolic and systolic pressure and could have a significant effect on improving mental conditions.

Protective Effects of Bergamot (Citrus bergamia Risso & Poiteau) Juice in Rats Fed with High-Fat Diet

“…In addition, the high-fat diet leads also to a hepatic steatosis condi-tion, which can evolve into fibrosis and hepatic cirrhosis, and to a low-grade, systemic and chronic inflammatory state [29][30][31]. Several pre-clinical studies showed that C. bergamia promotes significant anti-inflammatory effects both at a systemic and tissue level [18,32]. Interestingly, Parafati et al reported in rats treated with a cafeteria diet, anti-inflammatory effects of a bergamot polyphenol fraction, recovering from NASH [18].…”

Phenolic Compounds Exerting Lipid-Regulatory, Anti-Inflammatory and Epigenetic Effects as Complementary Treatments in Cardiovascular Diseases

“…In a clinical trial involving hypercholesterolemic patients, administration of naringin (400 mg/day, for 8 weeks) reduced plasma LDL-C and serum apoB by more than 14%, without altering plasma TG or HDL-C levels [218]. Naringenin found in bergamot inhibits LDL oxidation, initiates AMPK, modulates the activation of redox-sensitive transcription factors NF-κB induced by TNF-α and acts as ROS scavenger [219]. There are reports showing that hesperetin-induced eNOS expression increased NO production via phosphorylation of Src, Akt and AMPK in cultured EC, and consequently prevented hypertension by improving endothelial dysfunction in the hypertensive rat [220,221].…”

Three‐arm, placebo‐controlled, randomized clinical trial evaluating the metabolic effect of a combined nutraceutical containing a bergamot standardized flavonoid extract in dyslipidemic overweight subjects

“…Over the last decades, new hypothesis emerged on the possible favorable anti‐inflammatory and hypolipidemic properties of bergamot derivatives (Spigoni et al, ). However, there is a lack of information on the specific phenolic metabolite that might be responsible of the biological activity of bergamot (Perna et al, ). To address this issue, we conducted a randomized, double‐blind, placebo‐controlled, parallel‐group, dose‐escalation, clinical trial on a large sample of overweight subjects with mildly hypercholesterolemia.…”