Neem oil is obtained from the fruit and seeds of Azadirachta indica, a flowering evergreen tree native to India. Like many other botanical oils, neem oil is used to produce natural cosmetics, including soap. In Ayurveda, the traditional Indian system of healing, neem oil soap is commonly recommended to treat bacteria-related skin disorders such as acne. Neem oil soap provides other therapeutic benefits for the skin as well.
Anti-parasitic
Neem oil is the standard treatment used in Ayurvedic medicine to address parasitic infestations of the skin such as scabies. Also known as sarcoptic mange, this disease is caused by an invasion of the Sarcoptes scabiei var. hominis mite in people and the Sarcoptes scabiei var. canis mite in dogs. In Western medicine, the typical treatment is a cream made with permethrin, a synthetic chemical suspected of causing lung and liver cancers. However, while neem appears to be a safer alternative, study results show conflicting evidence of its effectiveness in treating sarcoptic mange in humans.
For example, a team of Australian researchers examined the effects of several anti-parasitic agents against skin samples collected from 7 scabies patients. The agents tested included permethrin, lindane, ivermectin, benzyl benzoate and neem. The study team, in a 2000 issue of "Transactions of the Royal Society Tropical Medicine and Hygiene," reported that neem was the only agent tested that demonstrated any activity. Yet, in an earlier study published in "Tropical and Geographical Medicine," a team of Indian scientists reported a 97 percent cure rate in more than 800 scabies patients within 3 to 15 days of treatment with a combination of neem and turmeric extracts.
In terms of treating sarcoptic mange in dogs, scientists from Cairo University in Egypt tested the efficacy of a neem shampoo on 10 infected dogs for 14 days. The results, which were published in 2008 in "Parasitology Research," showed that 4 of the dogs were completely free of mites by day 7, while only 2 of the remaining dogs had a very small mite count by the end of day 14.
Anti-inflammatory
Neem oil contains a large number of different limonoids, the same chemicals found in citrus fruits. One in particular, azadirachtin, is believed to exert anti-inflammatory effects. In an article published in the February 19, 2010 issue of the "Journal of Biological Chemistry," a group of Indian researchers reported that azadirachtin inhibits inflammation in human skin cell lines by blocking the expression of nuclear factor kappaB.
Antibacterial Benefits
Neem oil appears to provide antibacterial properties due to the presence of a newly isolated compound called tetrahydrofuranyl diester 1. In the March 31, 2010 issue of "Fitoterapia," Chinese researchers reported that this substance effectively countered a number of pathogens, including Salmonella enteritidis, Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus.
References
- "Transactions of the Royal Society Tropical Medicine and Hygiene"; Studies in vitro on the relative efficacy of current acaricides for Sarcoptes scabiei var. hominis; Walton SF, et al.; January-February 2000
- "Tropical and Geographical Medicine"; The use and efficacy of Azadirachta indica ADR ('Neem') and Curcuma longa ('Turmeric') in scabies; Charles V, Charles SX; January 1992
- "Parasitology Research"; Neem seed extract shampoo, Wash Away Louse, an effective plant agent against Sarcoptes scabiei mites infesting dogs in Egypt; Abdel-Ghaffar F, et al.; December 2008
- "Journal of Biological Chemistry"; Azadirachtin interacts with the tumor necrosis factor (TNF) binding domain of its receptors and inhibits TNF-induced biological responses; Thoh M, et al.; Feb. 19, 2010
- "Fitoterapia"; Isolation and identification of the antibacterial active compound from petroleum ether extract of neem oil; Zhang YQ, et al.; March 2010
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