Alpha-pinene Toxicity Correlations

With the development of the chemical industry, phytoconstituents have become bioactive targets with numerous functionalities, highlighting the pharmacological, herbicide and aromatherapy use. In this spectrum, alpha-pinene stands out, an organic compound of the terpenoid class and subclass of monoterpenes. In fact, the presence of this phytoconstituent is of a wide spectrum in world soil, highlighting the Brazilian northeast, especially in plants such as rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis). This, in turn, due to its bioactive properties, already has reports of antibacterial, anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory effects. In this perspective, due to this approach to human beings, attention is gained in terms of its possible toxicity in its use. In this bias, it is necessary to expand the discussion on this possible toxicity of this phytoconstituent, since reports of acute and chronic toxicity involving monoterpenes are already corroborated. In this sense, this study aims to consolidate the main correlations of toxicity existing with the use of alpha-pinene already provided in the literature. For this, a narrative-type bibliographic review was carried out in December 2021 using the descriptors available in the Health Sciences Descriptors (DeCS): “alpha-pinene”, “anti-inflammatory”, “immunomodulator” and “ toxicity”, in Portuguese, English and Spanish. The inclusion criteria were: studies that promote the understanding of alpha-pinene functionalities. It is noteworthy that studies referring to possible toxic effects were also included. On the other hand, the exclusion criteria were: articles that addressed other effects of alpha-pinene and that considered alpha-pinene only with a minority composition of the essential oil used in the study. In view of this method, it is mentioned that alpha-pinene is already a compound with affinity for some specific systems and organs, highlighting the affinity for the nervous system, urinary system, liver and mammary glands, causing a possibility of overloading these systems. and organs. Therefore, the study showed the possibility of toxicity, especially considering the neurotoxic effects associated with nephropathies, evidencing that alpha-pinene becomes a possibility in its use but it must be considered by the toxicological possibility.