Sandalwood fragrance can heal wounds and regenerate skin, a new German research shows.
The Ruhr-Universität Bochum researchers found that olfactory receptors in skin get activated on exposure to sandalwood scent. The team also found that the fragrance improves cell proliferation and wound healing.
Lead researchers Dr Daniela Busse and Dr Hanns Hatt from the Department for Cellphysiology at the Ruhr-Universität Bochum explain that the skin has olfactory receptors that breathe in odours and according to past researches humans possess olfactory receptors in the nose, sex cells, the prostate, intestine and kidney. Humans have approximately 350 different types of olfactory receptors in the nose.
Researchers studied the olfactory receptors in the skin, namely OR2AT4, and found that the scent of sandalwood activates OR2AT4. This results in to a calcium-dependent signal pathway. The team explained that this particular pathway boosts proliferation and a quicker migration of skin cells, which helps in wound healing.
The findings show that that these receptors also exist in keratinocytes - cells that make up the outermost layer of the skin.
Apart from OR2AT4, the study also found that there are many other olfactory receptors in the skin.
"The results so far show that they possess therapeutic and cosmetic potential," Professor Hatt said in a university release.
"Still, we mustn't forget that concentrated fragrances should be handled with care, until we have ascertained which functions the different types of olfactory receptors in skin cells have," he added.
According to the study researchers, the latest findings could make way for discovering better drugs and cosmetics
The findings were published in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology.
