Cardioprotective and vasorelaxant effects of carvacrol: a mechanistic approach

Cardiovascular disorders are the leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Therefore, it is beneficial to investigate new therapies for the control and treatment of these disorders. In this context, carvacrol emerges as a phytochemical with important therapeutic potential. Therefore, this article aims to discuss and describe the pharmacokinetic properties and main mechanisms that explain the effects of carvacrol on cardiovascular disorders. ADMET studies revealed that carvacrol has promising pharmacodynamic characteristics for cardiovascular treatments. Some studies showed that animals treated with carvacrol had a decrease in the infarct area, less collagen deposition, lower serum concentrations of cardiac injury markers, as well as a decrease in the expression of proteins involved in cellular apoptosis pathways, evidencing its cardioprotective role. However, most of the effects described are related to intraperitoneal and intravenous treatment in normotensive animals, being limited studies that investigated the effects of carvacrol by the oral route and demonstrating the need to continuation of the works with models of spontaneous hypertension, which would better mimic the systemic arterial hypertension observed in humans.