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Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a demyelinating disorder of the central nervous system (CNS) associated with significant progressive neurodegeneration. There is a lot of interest in the use of plant-based essential oils in traditional medicine to treat and prevent human illnesses, including MS. This research aimed to assess the neuroprotective effects of green tea oil (GTO) and pumpkin oil (PO) against myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG)-induced MS in Wistar rats as well as investigate the underlying molecular mechanisms. The Wistar rats were divided into four groups: group 1, normal control; group 2, MOG-injected; and groups 3 and 4, MOG-injected groups treated with 5 ml/kg body weight each of GTO and PO, respectively. The chemical profiles of components within a GTO and PO were identified using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC–MS). Treatment with GTO and PO substantially improved the decreased dopamine, serotonin, norepinephrine, and acetylcholine levels in the brain of the MOG-injected rats. It also suppressed the elevated epinephrine levels. The histological injuries in the brain cortical tissue of the MOG-injected group were notably improved after supplementing with GTO and PO. Furthermore, brain lipid peroxidation and serum INF-β concentration were significantly lower in the MOG-injected rats treated with GTO and PO. The brain GSH, SOD, GPx, as well as serum coenzyme Q10, and α-tocopherol levels were significantly enhanced by GTO and PO supplementaion. Additionally, GTO and PO administration into MOG-injected rats significantly upregulated Nrf2, Bcl-2, and PCNA while significantly downregulated TNF-α, NF-κB, iNOS, p53, and Bax expression levels. Taken together, these findings suggest that GTO and PO efficiently ameliorate MOG-induced MS via enhancing the antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-apoptotic effects.

Essential oils (EOs) such as Peppermint oil (PO) and Green Tea oil (GTO) have extensively been reported for their nutritional and biomedical properties. To overcome the sensitivity of EOs to the environmental conditions, nano-encapsulation has emerged as a method to address this limitation. In this work, PO and GTO were encapsulated in chitosan nanoparticles (CS NPs) following emulsification/ionic gelation method. The nano-encapsulated PO (CS/PO NPs) and GTO (CS/GTO NPs) were fully characterized by various methods. Spherical NPs with an average size range of 20-60 nm were revealed by TEM for both systems. The loading capacity reached 22.2% and 23.1%, for PO and GTO, respectively, and the in-vitro release followed a Fickian behavior in different buffer systems. The TGA thermograms of both nano-encapsulated EOs showed an increase in the temperature of maximum degradation rate up to 350 °C. The nano-encapsulation maintained the stability of the total phenolic contents in both EOs, improved the antioxidant activity by ~2 and 2.4-fold for PO and GTO respectively. Surprisingly, the antibacterial activity of CS/GTO NPs was more potent than CS/PO NPs and especially against Staphylococcus aureus with ~9.4 folds improvement compared to pure GTO, and ~4.7 fold against Escherichia coli., (Copyright © 2019. Published by Elsevier B.V.)