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Pet Forum / Mammals / Rats / December 2004Sniffing Citrus Prevents Asthma in Rats
Studies at by Professor Ehud Keinan & his team at Technion-Israel Institute of Technology in Israel believe "natural ozone scavengers" such as limonene in citrus fruits may prevent asthma. Their animal models for the studies were rats. As reported in the December 2004 Journal of Bioorganic & Medicinal Chemistry, ozone in the body can cause inflammation of cells, & the scent of citrus can neutralize the ozone. The rats in the study first had asthma symptoms induced, then were treated with the citrus odor, or inhalation of volatile hydrophobic olefins. "The unsaturated monoterpene limonene, which is the main component in the essential oil of citrus fruits, could thus function as an ozone scavenger. In contrast, eucalyptol, a saturated monoterpene, which is an essential oil of the eucalyptus tree, cannot scavenge ozone. The experiments involved exposing rats with asthma-like symptoms to either limonene or eucalyptol for a couple of days before examining their lung function. The pulmonary function of sick rats showed that limonene inhalation significantly prevented the asthmatic symptoms while eucalyptol inhalation did not alleviate the disease." "The high environmental concentration of natural ozone scavengers in agricultural areas could possibly now explain why the prevalence of asthma in rural population is significantly lower than its prevalence in urban population," proposes Professor Keinan. So if you or your ratty are having an asthma attack, remember to sniff a lemon! -paghat the ratgirl  Signature"Of what are you afraid, my child?" inquired the kindly teacher. "Oh, sir! The flowers, they are wild," replied the timid creature. -from Peter Newell's "Wild Flowers" Visit the Garden of Paghat the Ratgirl: http://www.paghat.com Except that beta-limonene is nephrotoxic to male rats (nobody's sure why it's not toxic to female rats, but the toxicity in males is very well known). SignatureChris Green > Except that beta-limonene is nephrotoxic to male rats (nobody's sure > why it's not toxic to female rats, but the toxicity in males is very > well known). d-Limonene if ingested in sufficient concentrations causes renal tumors in male rats. Such concentrations are not usually achievable by eating fruit per se; exposure is riskiest by injesting solvents with lemony scents, or eating a great amount of orange peals & lemon peals. However, the protective value for asthma was achieved by SMELLING it, so no need to eat a bit of it. > (nobody's sure > why it's not toxic to female rats, but the toxicity in males is very > well known). Actually the reason IS well known. Male rats have protein metabolites which females lack, & it is to these male-specific metablolites that limonene bonds, leading to renal tumors. Some strains of rats do not have these precise metabolites required, & those strains are unaffected by d-LImonene. However, there are lesser risks not restricted to males or to males with 2u-globulin. d-Limonene is harmful to infant rodents in gestation, causing delayed prenatal growth, & causes deformities in the skeletal structure of rats, rabbits, & mice exposed prenatally. It has also been found to be potentially carcinogenic hamsters, setting up conditions for pancreatic cancer. Some of these problems are doubtless also associated with humans, but only if huge aboun ts of peels are eaten, or concentrated solvents which would be labeled as toxic. These are the reasons citrus is always left out of rodents' diets, but again, the positive effect of nulifying harmful ozone in the body & alleviating asthmatic lung swelling is derived from sniffing, not by eating, the citrus. Not that any of this has practical value for pet keepers; when rats get bad lungs it is NOT apt to be asthma. These new findings are more likely to help asthmatic humans, & it is thanks to rats that this health benifit for people was discovered. -paghat the ratgirl Signature"Of what are you afraid, my child?" inquired the kindly teacher. "Oh, sir! The flowers, they are wild," replied the timid creature. -from Peter Newell's "Wild Flowers" Visit the Garden of Paghat the Ratgirl: http://www.paghat.com OK... Token is in a bad way. She has been treated for mico but still has bad days and we just got her weened off predisone for the second time. Should I buy a lemon sented car freshener or grate lemon peals in her litter???????? > OK... Token is in a bad way. She has been treated for mico but still has bad > days and we just got her weened off predisone for the second time. > > Should I buy a lemon sented car freshener or grate lemon peals in her > litter???????? Sorry to hear that. Unfortunately the citrus oil only seems to alleviate asthmatic respiratory problems, so wouldn't help a rat suffering from myco. If you want to try something buy some essential oils of eucalyptus and tea tree. Burn a few drops of each (with a little water) in an oil burner near the rats' cage. I've found this often helps if the rats are struggling with their breathing. Tracey Thanks Tracey: I tried grating an orange peal and wiped her cage but miss fussy didn't like it and refused to go back to her cage until we cleaned it. She is having a good day today (Phew)...... > > OK... Token is in a bad way. She has been treated for mico but still has > bad [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > > Tracey > Thanks Tracey: > > I tried grating an orange peal and wiped her cage but miss fussy didn't > like it and refused to go back > to her cage until we cleaned it. She is having a good day today (Phew)...... They can be fussy little things can't they, lol! Have you heard about the benefits of feeding a little chocolate to rats suffering respiratory distress? http://spazrats.tripod.com/chocolate.html Tracey >> Thanks Tracey: >> [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > suffering respiratory distress? > http://spazrats.tripod.com/chocolate.html Oh that does SO work. BTDT...shared a cup of pudding with mine once when he'd a nasty URI. That and a bunch of socks fresh out of the dryer had him almost normal the next day. SignatureKeith Schiffner Dum vivimus, vivamus <:(3 )3~ <:(3 )3~ <:(3 )~ <:(3 )~ http://community.webshots.com/user/sciffners |
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