Camphor and borneol are wildly distributed in the essential oils of medicinal plants from various parts of the World. Our study has been carried out to evaluate the effect of these two bicyclic monoterpenes on rat thymocytes. Camphor and borneol at concentrations of 0.5 and 5 µg/mL did not induce significant toxicity on the immune system cells, while a significant increase of thymocyte viabilit...

We describe a case of a young child who lived in Hong Kong who presented with a severe epilepticus status after a return flight to Paris. Routine laboratory tests failed to establish a cause. Upon further questioning, the parents reported that the nanny had given an abdominal massage to the child with an unlabelled solution reported to have anti-flatulence effects. Toxicological analysis of thi...

The cytochrome P450 CYP101D2 from Novosphingobium aromaticivorans DSM12444 is closely related to CYP101D1 from the same bacterium and to P450cam (CYP101A1) from Pseudomonas putida. All three are capable of oxidizing camphor stereoselectively to 5-exo-hydroxycamphor. The crystal structure of CYP101D2 revealed that the likely ferredoxin-binding site on the proximal face is largely positively char...

Application of camphor to the skin has been empirically thought to improve blood circulation. However, camphor's effects on blood circulation to the skin and on thermal sensation have not been well elucidated. In this study, we examined its effects on the quality of sensation as well as on skin and muscle blood flow in human. Nine adults (average age 37±9.4 years) participated in the study. Pet...

TRPV3 ion channels mediate thermo-transduction, nociception, inflammation and dermatitis in mammals. TRPV1-4 proteins have been shown to have conserved cysteine-residues in the pore-forming regions. These residues participate in channel activation via S-nitrosylation of channel proteins. Camphor is a commonly used ligand for TRPV3 channels. Thus the knowledge about the potential binding/interac...

Three 2D Ag(I)-framework isomers were constructed from enantiopure camphor-10-sulfonic acids or racemic camphor-10-sulfonic acids, together with achiral 4-aminobenzoic acids. In complex 1, (+)-camphor-10-sulfonic acids bridge the single left-handed helices that are made up of Ag ions and 4-aminobenzoic acids, generating a homochiral 2D layer. In such a structure, the interweaving of triple left...

An atomistic calculation of the interaction between peptide motifs and enantiomeric odorant molecules (carvone and camphor) is performed. The peptide motifs are mimics of segments of the helical receptor structure. The model shows that the enantiomers of carvone have distinctly different interaction profile with all peptides considered, but the enantiomers of camphor do not exhibit any signific...

Many camphor-degrading bacteria that are able to transform 2-methylisoborneol (2-MIB) have been identified. Three of these strains have been examined in detail. Rhodococcus ruber T1 metabolizes camphor through 6-hydroxycamphor but converts 2-MIB to 3-hydroxy-2-MIB. Pseudomonas putida G1, which metabolizes camphor through 5-hydroxycamphor, converts MIB primarily to 6-hydroxy-2-MIB. Rhodococcus w...

To clarify the role of metallothionein (MT), an antistress protein, induced by psychological stress, we carried out an experiment to determine whether hepatic MT synthesis induced by restraint stress can be classically conditioned by an olfactory odor cue of camphor. Mice were conditioned by exposure to the odor of camphor 1 hr before restraint stress and partly during restraint stress. Althoug...

BACKGROUND Patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) and other forms of precapillary pulmonary hypertension (PH) have impaired quality of life (QoL). The Cambridge Pulmonary Hypertension Outcome Review (CAMPHOR) is a PH-specific patient-reported outcome measure that assesses symptoms, activity limitations and QoL. It was originally developed in UK-English. The main objective of this s...