ArticlePloS one2013
Lavender oil-potent anxiolytic properties via modulating voltage dependent calcium channels.
Article in PloS one, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 47 papers, 6 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
47 citing papers in PubMed, 6 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 131 citations in OpenAlex.
- Efficacy of Silexan in patients with anxiety disorders: a meta-analysis of randomized, placebo-controlled trials.European archives of psychiatry and clinical neuroscience · 2023Pooled it
- Beneficial effects of Silexan on co-occurring depressive symptoms in patients with subthreshold anxiety and anxiety disorders: randomized, placebo-controlled trials revisited.European archives of psychiatry and clinical neuroscience · 2023Pooled it
- Therapeutic effects of Silexan on somatic symptoms and physical health in patients with anxiety disorders: A meta-analysis.Brain and behavior · 2021Pooled it
- Efficacy and safety of lavender essential oil (Silexan) capsules among patients suffering from anxiety disorders: A network meta-analysis.Scientific reports · 2019Pooled it
- Efficacy of Silexan in subthreshold anxiety: meta-analysis of randomised, placebo-controlled trials.European archives of psychiatry and clinical neuroscience · 2019Pooled it
- A Systematic Review of the Anxiolytic-Like Effects of Essential Oils in Animal Models.Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) · 2015Pooled it
- Lavender oil preparation Silexan is effective in mild-to-moderate major depression: a randomized, placebo- and reference-controlled trial.European archives of psychiatry and clinical neuroscience · 2025Trial
- The effect of lavender on mood disorders associated with the use of combined oral contraceptives (COCs): a triple-blinded randomized controlled trial.BMC complementary medicine and therapies · 2024Trial
- Essential oil therapy for the short-term treatment of behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia: a monocentric randomized pilot study.Aging clinical and experimental research · 2021Trial
- No Abuse Potential of Silexan in Healthy Recreational Drug Users: A Randomized Controlled Trial.The international journal of neuropsychopharmacology · 2021Trial
- Effects of Silexan on the serotonin-1A receptor and microstructure of the human brain: a randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind, cross-over study with molecular and structural neuroimaging.The international journal of neuropsychopharmacology · 2014Trial
- Intranasal essential oils in therapy: advances in clinical applications and delivery mechanisms.Journal of traditional Chinese medicine = Chung i tsa chih ying wen pan · 2026Review
- The sensitivity of adult zebrafish to clinically relevant neuroactive (sedative) effects of extracts of selected traditional Chinese medicine herbs.Psychopharmacology · 2026Article
- Anti-Inflammatory and Antioxidant Strategies in Epilepsy: From Molecular Mechanisms to Threshold Management.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Review
- A Review of the Effects of Herbal Medicines on the Conductance of Ion Channels.Physiological research · 2026Review
- Article
- The Silexan in the Treatment Of Posttraumatic stress disorder (STOP) trial: protocol for a 12-week randomised controlled trial of adjunctive Silexan for PTSD.BMC complementary medicine and therapies · 2026Article
- Effect of Lavender Essential Oil-based Aromatherapy on Anxiety: An Overview of Results of Recent Randomized Controlled Trials.Current pharmaceutical design · 2026Review
- Silexan in anxiety, depression, and related disorders: pharmacological background and clinical data.European archives of psychiatry and clinical neuroscience · 2025Review
- Anxiolytic-like Effect Characterization of Essential Oil from Local Lavender Cultivation.Pharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Recent clinical data support the clinical use of oral lavender oil in patients suffering from subsyndromal anxiety. We identified the molecular mechanism of action that will alter the perception of lavender oil as a nonspecific ingredient of aromatherapy to a potent anxiolytic inhibiting voltage dependent calcium channels (VOCCs) as highly selective drug target. In contrast to previous publications where exorbitant high concentrations were used, the effects of lavender oil in behavioral, biochemical, and electrophysiological experiments were investigated in physiological concentrations in the nanomolar range, which correlate to a single dosage of 80 mg/d in humans that was used in clinical trials. We show for the first time that lavender oil bears some similarities with the established anxiolytic pregabalin. Lavender oil inhibits VOCCs in synaptosomes, primary hippocampal neurons and stably overexpressing cell lines in the same range such as pregabalin. Interestingly, Silexan does not primarily bind to P/Q type calcium channels such as pregabalin and does not interact with the binding site of pregabalin, the α2δ subunit of VOCCs. Lavender oil reduces non-selectively the calcium influx through several different types of VOCCs such as the N-type, P/Q-type and T-type VOCCs. In the hippocampus, one brain region important for anxiety disorders, we show that inhibition by lavender oil is mainly mediated via N-type and P/Q-type VOCCs. Taken together, we provide a pharmacological and molecular rationale for the clinical use of the oral application of lavender oil in patients suffering from anxiety.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.