“Seeds from non-drug varieties of hemp (Cannabis sativa L.) have been used for traditional medicine, food, and fiber production. Our study shows that phytol obtained from hemp seed oil (HSO) exerts anti-inflammatory activity in human monocyte-macrophages.
Fresh human monocytes and human macrophages derived from circulating monocytes were used to evaluate both plasticity and anti-inflammatory effects of phytol from HSO at 10-100 mM using FACS analysis, ELISA, and RT-qPCR methods. The quantitative study of the acyclic alcohol fraction isolated from HSO shows that phytol is the most abundant component (167.59 ± 1.81 mg/Kg of HSO).
Phytol was able to skew monocyte-macrophage plasticity toward the anti-inflammatory non-classical CD14+CD16++ monocyte phenotype and toward macrophage M2 (CD200Rhigh and MRC-1high), as well as to reduce the production of IL-1β, IL-6, and TNF-α, diminishing the inflammatory competence of mature human macrophages after lipopolysaccharide (LPS) treatment.
These findings point out for the first time the reprogramming and anti-inflammatory activity of phytol in human monocyte-macrophages. In addition, our study may help to understand the mechanisms by which phytol from HSO contributes to the constant and progressive plasticity of the human monocyte-macrophage linage.”
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35954130/
“These results showed that phytol, which was isolated and identified for the first time in HSO, can help to better understand the specific mechanism by which this acyclic diterpene exerts beneficial effects on monocyte-macrophage plasticity. So far, HSO has already been demonstrated to include healthy polyunsaturated fatty acids, as well as antioxidant tocopherols and anti-inflammatory phytosterols in its unsaponifiable fraction. In recent years, inflammation has emerged as a leading pathophysiologic mechanism in atherosclerosis and other diseases, so the effects of phytol on different hallmarks of the inflammatory response contribute to the recommendation of HSO as an interesting source of functional compounds.”