- Silexan, a special lavender oil from the flowers of lavender, has been show to possess anxiolytic effects in patients with anxiety disorders as well as substantial effects on comorbid depressive symptoms at oral doses of 80 mg per day.
These potent clinical properties are supported by many behavioral experiments in animals demonstrating anxiolytic as well as antidepressant properties at low doses.
As possible mechanisms of action a moderate inhibition of voltage dependent calcium channels as well as of an activation of several aspects of neuroplasticity have been demonstrated.
Silexan®, a proprietary essential oil manufactured by steam distillation from Lavandula angustifolia flowers showed pronounced anxiolytic effects in patients with sub-threshold anxiety disorders and was also efficacious in patients with Generalized Anxiety disorder (GAD). Moreover, evidences for antidepressant-like properties of Silexan® have been observed in anxious patients suffering from comorbid depressive symptoms and in patients with mixed anxiety-depression disorder (ICD-10 F41.2). In accordance with the clinical data Silexan® is active in several behavioral models in rodents at rather low concentrations indicating potent anxiolytic and antidepressive properties.
As possible mechanism of action a moderate inhibition of voltage dependent calcium channels (VDCC) has been found showing some similarities to the anxiolytic drug pregabalin. However, while pregabalin mainly inhibits P/Q-type channels by binding to a modulatory subunit, Silexan® moderately inhibits mainly T-type and N-type channels and to some extent P/Q-type channels. Unlike pregabalin Silexan® is free of hypnotic or sedative side effects and seems to be devoid of any abuse potential. With respect to its specific antidepressant like properties Silexan® improves several aspects of neuroplasticity which seems to be the common final pathway of all antidepressant drugs. As a potential mechanism of its effects on neuroplasticity an activation of the transcription factor CREB via activation of intracellular signaling kinases like PKA and MAPK has been found. Since the concentrations of Silexan® needed to inhibit VDCC function and to improve neuroplasticity are quite similar, the effects of Silexan® on PKA or MAPK could constitute a common intracellular signaling cascade leading to VDCC modulation as well as CREB activation and improved neuroplasticity.
…Conflict of interest: Kristina Friedland received research grants from Dr. Wilmar Schwabe, Walter E. Müller received research grants from Dr. Wilmar Schwabe and was an external consultant of Dr. Wilmar Schwabe. Pharmaceuticals (Karlsruhe, Germany).