Pharmacological Mechanisms of Hepatoprotection by Monoterpenes: A Review

Abstract

Liver is a key to the process of detoxication, metabolism, and physiological homeostasis that makes it very sensitive to damage by xenobiotics, pharmaceuticals, and environmental toxins. Hepatotoxicity remains a critical health concern of the world worldwide, and there is still a necessity to find safer and more effective treatment measures. The naturally occurring compounds have been of special interest in this regard and specifically, monoterpenes which are common compounds that form essential oils. The present review is an in-depth discussion on the chosen monoterpenes such as geraniol, myrcene, α-pinene, limonene, nerol, and camphene with references to their pharmacological activities and hepatoprotective capacity. It has been shown through experiment that these compounds have protective effects toward liver injury in many ways such as mediating oxidative stress, supporting endogenous antioxidant defense systems, and regulating key signaling pathways. Remarkably, monoterpenes turned out to stimulate nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) pathway and suppress nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) and mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling to reduce inflammation, oxidative damage and cell dysfunction. All these results support the therapeutic value of monoterpenes as multi-targets agents in the treatment of liver diseases.