Efeitos do óleo essencial de Rosmarinus Officinalis L. na cognição humana: revisão sistemática

Abstract

One of the alternative therapies is aromatherapy and it has done by extracting essential oil. Rosmarinus Officinalis L. (rosemary) is a medicinal plant that has been highlighted in aromatherapy research, because the studies obtained demonstrate that the use to Rosmarinus Officinalis L. essential oil (rosemary essential oil) is one of the promising non-pharmacological therapies for cognition. The aim of this systematic review was to verify the effect of rosemary essential oil on human cognition according to the PRISMA model. The systematic review protocol number was registered in Prospero (CRD42021256471). Quantitative articles with different designs that assess the outcomes of the rosemary essential oil on cognition were selected. The main exclusion criteria were (a) qualitative studies (b) studies with animal models, (c) use of rosemary tablets (Mg) and/or (d) in combination with other essential oils. Thus, two researchers independently performed a literature search in the MEDLINE/PubMed, LILACS, Scopus, Web of Science, ScienceDirect, PsycINFO, Embase and Gray Literature (Google Scholar) databases. In the initial phase of article selection, the researchers independently checked only the titles and abstracts of the articles. At this stage of the systematic review, the Rayyan was used. After this step, the full reading of the articles was done to examine when they really met the inclusion criteria. Data from the selected articles were extracted by the two researchers from a standardized table containing the variables of interest: Authors/year of publication, study design, sample, amount of essential oil (drops or mL), duration of vaporization, time of exhibition, tool used to evaluate the result of the rosemary essential oil, results and conclusion. Subsequently, the researchers assessed the methodological quality of the articles using the Effective Public Health Project Practice Quality Assessment Tool. Initially, 2,581 articles were identified in the searched databases. 15 articles met the inclusion criteria (two duplicates) and were eligible for full text reading and analysis. Of the 15 articles, 9 were included in the systematic review. Studies were grouped according to cognitive domains (long-term memory or attention and working memory). 4 studies investigated the effect of rosemary essential oil on memory, among them, 2 investigated rosemary essential oil in adults and 1 investigated in the elderly and 7 studies investigated the effect of rosemary essential oil on attention and working memory (2 used a sample of adults, 2 studies were with adolescents, 1 was with children and 2 were with the elderly). The studies selected based on the inclusion criteria of this systematic review demonstrated the significant results of rosemary essential oil in the cognition of children, adolescents, adults and the elderly. The main limitations of this systematic review were the methodological differences between the studies, in addition, studies in this area generally focus more on the investigation of episodic memory and working memory. Another limitation is that the studies were classified as having poor and moderate methodological quality.