Essential oils for Lyme disease: Laboratory study indicates good effectiveness of various vegetable oils

Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore, Maryland, have been studying the effects of vegetable oils on Borrelia burgdorferi, one of the three main pathogens of Lyme disease in humans and dogs (along with B. garinii and B. afzelii).

The disease, which was first described in 1975, can be treated well with conventional antibiotics (doxycycline, amoxicillin, cefuroxime), but after the usually two to four weeks of therapy, a considerable proportion of the patients still have symptoms such as fatigue, muscle and joint pain even after six months or neuropsychiatric symptoms, which are usually summarized as "persistent Lyme infection" or "post-treatment lyme disease syndrome" (PTLDS).

In addition to other factors such as immune response and tissue damage, dormant and slowly growing bacteria or biofilms formed by them are suspected to be the cause of this, against which standard antibiotics can do little.

In a recent study, 35 different vegetable oils were tested, 10 of which showed a promising effect on the gram-negative spiral-shaped bacteria. In particular, preparations made from cloves of garlic (Allium sativum L.), allspice berries (Pimenta officinalis Lindl.), Palm rose grass (Cymbopogon martini var very low concentration of 0.05 percent. 0.1 percent also included the oils from cumin seeds (Cuminum cyminum L.), myrrh (Commiphora myrrha (T. Nees) Engl.), Thyme leaves (Thymus vulgaris L.), ornamental ginger flowers (Hedychium spicatum Buch.-Ham . ex Sm.), West Indian sandalwood (Amyris balsamifera), the fruits of the laurel family Litsea cubeba (Lour.) Pers. and the leaves of lemon eucalyptus (Corymbia citriodora Hook.) have a good effect (see illustration).

The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of cinnamaldehyde was 0.02 percent. In the subculture, the essential oils of garlic, allspice, myrrh, ornamental ginger and Litsea cubeba with a concentration of 0.1% were particularly successful. In 0.05 percent, only garlic and cinnamaldehyde were able to kill all dormant bacteria.

In a study published in 2017, the scientists had already found essential oils from oregano (Origanum vulgare L.), Ceylon cinnamon tree (Cinnamomum verum J. Presl), clove (Syzygium aromaticum (L.) Merr. & LMPerry), citronella (Cymbopogon winterianus Jowitt ex Bor) and wintergreen (Gaultheria procumbens L.) identified as particularly interesting. At that time, 34 different oils were compared with one another.

The researchers point out that the new findings are only of an experimental nature and therefore studies must first be carried out on the living organism in order to make concrete statements about the potential, the necessary dosages and the safe use of the vegetable oils.

Also see:
Jie Feng et al.: Identification of Essential Oils with Strong Activity against Stationary Phase Borrelia burgdorferi. Antibiotics 2018, 7(4), 89
https://doi.org/10.3390/antibiotics7040089

Jie Feng et al.: Selective Essential Oils from Spice or Culinary Herbs Have High Activity against Stationary Phase and Biofilm Borrelia burgdorferi. Front. Med., 11 October 2017
https://doi.org/10.3389/fmed.2017.00169


Essential Oils From Garlic and Other Herbs and Spices Kill "Persister" Lyme Disease Bacteria:
Laboratory study hints that plant compounds may be better than current antibiotics at treating persistent Lyme bacteria and associated symptoms
https://www.jhsph.edu/news/news-releases/2018/essential-oils-from-garlic-and-other-herbs-and-spices-kill-persister-lyme-disease-bacteria.html