Clove oil liquid
Available from pharmacies, supermarkets, and retail outlets
Clove oil is obtained by extraction from the dried flower buds of the clove plant.
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Drug safety updates
MHRA alerts for Clove oil
Safety monitoring data
Yellow Card reports
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Data from the MHRA Yellow Card scheme. A reported reaction does not necessarily mean the medicine caused it. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
EudraVigilance
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EudraVigilance data is published by the European Medicines Agency (EMA). A suspected adverse reaction is not necessarily caused by the medicine.
5 branded products available
This is the NHS Drug Tariff indicative price used for reimbursement purposes. It may not reflect the price paid by patients or pharmacies.
View full Drug TariffSource: NHS Drug Tariff via NHSBSA. Derived from dm+d VMPP (Virtual Medicinal Product Pack) pricing data. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Therapeutically similar medicines
Similarity is based on WHO Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical (ATC) classification and on a factual NHS dm+d therapeutic-grouping code prefix. Source data: NHS dm+d via TRUD (OGL v3.0), WHO ATC/DDD Index.
NHS prescribing volume and spending trends
Guidelines from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence
NICE clinical guidance(1)
Source: National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Check stock at pharmacies and supply information
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Supply & safety information
Official UK regulator monitoring and safety alerts
Pharmacy links redirect to the retailer's own search and do not represent real-time stock levels. Shortage and safety information sourced from MHRA drug safety updates (gov.uk, Crown Copyright under OGL v3.0).
Codes for healthcare professionals and prescribing systems
These codes are used by healthcare IT systems and prescribers to identify this medicine.
NHS UK identifiers
SNOMED CT and dm+d codes from NHS TRUD (Technology Reference data Update Distribution), licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Active and completed clinical studies from ClinicalTrials.gov
Source: ClinicalTrials.gov, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM), National Institutes of Health (NIH). Data accessed via ClinicalTrials.gov API v2. Trial information is provided for research purposes and does not constitute medical advice.
Academic studies and reviews for this medicine's active substance
Showing the 50 most relevant studies.
Reviews & meta-analyses: 12 · 2018–2025
Showing the 50 most relevant studies, sorted by most relevant.
José Nabor Haro-González, G. Castillo-Herrera, M. Martínez-Velázquez, et al.
Molecules, 2021
Sangeeta JP, Aishwarya OB, Omkar DB, et al.
2024
In recent years, Candida albicans has emerged as a significant opportunistic pathogen, causing various infections, particularly in immunocompromised geriatric individuals. One of the major hindrances in managing Candida infections lies in its potential to develop and survive in biofilms, which demonstrate resistance to conventional antifungal therapies, thereby complicating treatment strategies. While clove oil has shown promising results as a potential antifungal agent, its specific anti-biofilm effects against Candida albicans biofilms remain relatively underexplored. Therefore, there is a need for a comprehensive review to evaluate the existing literature on the anti-biofilm properties of clove oil and its mechanisms of action against Candida albicans biofilms. Such a review will provide valuable insights into the potential therapeutic applications of clove oil in combating biofilm-associated Candida infections. This review will enable us to infer and understand the potential effects of clove oil against Candida albicans. This systematic review aims to determine the anti-biofilm efficacy of clove oil against Candida albicans. This systematic review was registered in 'PROSPERO' (CRD42024524134) and followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. The literature searches used Google Scholar, PubMed, and Science Direct databases. All original studies published in English from 2004 to 2023 were included. From 37 studies found online, only four were reviewed. Results showed that clove oil had significant anti-biofilm activity when assessed against Candida albicans. Our systematic review provides insights into clove oil's potential as a therapeutic agent against Candida albicans biofilms. Clove oil also represents a promising avenue for future research and development in managing Candida biofilms.
Abstract licence: CC BY-NC-SA
V. Pandey, Shivangi Srivastava, Ashish, et al.
Heliyon, 2023
Qiaoling Hu, Meifang Zhou, Shuyong Wei
Journal of food science, 2018
- Food Preservation
- Eugenol
- Oils, Volatile
Rafael Liñán-Atero, F. Aghababaei, Samuel Rodríguez García, et al.
Antioxidants, 2024
Tanzeela Nisar, Zi-Chao Wang, Xi Yang, et al.
International journal of biological macromolecules, 2018
Nayeresadat Hasheminejad, F. Khodaiyan, M. Safari
Food chemistry, 2019
M. Radünz, Maria Luiza Martins da Trindade, T. M. Camargo, et al.
Food chemistry, 2019
Haiying Cui, Chenghui Zhang, Changzhu Li, et al.
Food Control, 2018
Tilak Gasti, Shruti Dixit, Vishram D. Hiremani, et al.
Carbohydrate polymers, 2021
Sources: aggregated from Europe PMC (EMBL-EBI), OpenAlex, Crossref, PubMed and other open scholarly databases. Retracted articles are excluded. Study information is provided for research purposes and does not constitute medical advice.
Pharmacology and chemical data from DrugBank
Key facts
Drug status
Approved
Major interactions
None known
Half-life
18.3 h
Mechanism
The chief constituent present in clove oil is the phenol "eugenol" which is present in amounts up to 85%.
Food interactions
None known
Human targets
4 targets
Data: DrugBank · CC BY-NC 4.0
Pharmacokinetics at a glance
Absorption
Half-life
18.3 h
Metabolism
20-30%
[L2850]
In…
Elimination
24 hours
Pharmacokinetic data: DrugBank · CC BY-NC 4.0
Clove is native of Indonesia but is now cultured in several parts of the world, including Brazil in the state of Bahia. This plant represents one of the richest source of phenolic compounds such as eugenol, eugenol acetate and gallic acid and has great potential for pharmaceutical, cosmetic, food and agricultural applications [A33133].
Interestingly, clove oil has been studied for its potential benefit in treating neuropathic pain, as well as vaginal candidiasis with promising results [A33137], [A33144].
The FDA categorizes clove oil as generally recognized as safe (GRAS) for use in dental cement or as a food additive [F108].
[L2849]
Known interactions with other medicines. Always consult a healthcare professional.
Showing 50 of 732 interactions
Clove oil is considered safe in small quantities (< 1,500 ppm) as a food additive [F108]. The lethal oral dose is 3.75 g per kg body weight in humans [F108].
Contact with skin or soft tissue may cause transient irritation, contact dermatitis, inflammation of the lips, and inflammation or ulceration of the mouth. The eugenol present in clove oil may act as an irritant to skin and mucous membranes; it may also cause hypersensitivity and is reported to inhibit prostaglandin synthesis.
Patients may become sensitive to clove oil .
[L2850]
After oral administration of 5-10 ml of clove oil in children below 2 years of age, life-threatening conditions were observed. Adverse effects included coma, acidosis, a generalized seizure, disordered blood clotting, and acute liver damage [F108].
Overdose may lead to CNS depression, urinary abnormalities, anion-gap acidosis, deterioration of liver function, coma, seizure and low blood glucose levels. Treatment should be supportive and symptomatic; there have been reports in the literature that N-acetylcysteine has been successfully used as an antidote .
[L2850]
There are no epidemiological studies of potential adverse human health effects related to exposure to clove leave oil or eugenol from any human exposure scenarios.
Nor are there any studies of agricultural use, either in workers or those with bystander exposure or other applications. There are no occupational exposure standards for clove leaf oil or eugenol including OSHA PEL (Permissible Exposure Limit) or AGIHA TLVs (Threshold Limit Value) in air [F108].
Clove oil is thought to inhibit prostaglandin synthesis, thereby reducing painful symptoms [A33145].
Eugenol, the main constituent of clove oil is purported to have anticancer action. In one study, eugenol-treated HL-60 cells showed features of apoptosis including DNA fragmentation and formation of DNA ladders in agarose gel electrophoresis. It was observed that eugenol transduced the apoptotic signal via reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation, inducing mitochondrial permeability transition (MPT), decreasing anti-apoptotic protein bcl-2 level, inducing cytochrome c release to the cytosol, and subsequent apoptotic cell death. When taken together, the study showed that ROS plays a critical role in eugenol-induced apoptosis in HL-60, and this is the first report on the mechanism of the anticancer effect of eugenol [A33146].
Clove essential oil, used as an antiseptic in oral infections, inhibits gram-negative and gram-positive bacteria as well as yeast [A24841].
How the body processes this drug — absorption, distribution, metabolism, and elimination
[A33137]
[L2850]
In a pharmacokinetic study in man, 95% of the ingested eugenol dose was recovered in the urine, most of which (greater than 99%) consisted of phenolic conjugates; 50% of the conjugated metabolites were eugenol-glucuronide and sulfate. Other metabolic routes observed were the epoxide-diol pathway, synthesis of a thiophenol and of a substituted propionic acid, allylic oxidation, and migration of the double bond .
[A33147]
[A33147]
Proteins and enzymes this drug interacts with in the body
PMID:31310649
Acts as a major regulator of leukocyte adhesion to the endothelium through interaction with different types of integrins .
PMID:10209034
During inflammatory responses, binds ligands on the surface of activated endothelial cells to initiate the activation of calcium channels and the plasma membrane-associated small GTPase RAC1 leading to leukocyte transendothelial migration .
PMID:22970700
Also serves as a quality-control checkpoint for entry into bone marrow by providing a 'don't-eat-me' stamping in the context of major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class-I presentation PMID:35210567
PMID:11157474 PMID:22652417 PMID:7540647
Plays thereby an important role during viral infections by stimulating the activation and migration of immune cells to the infected sites (By similarity). Mechanistically, binding of CXCL10 to the CXCR3 receptor activates G protein-mediated signaling and results in downstream activation of phospholipase C-dependent pathway, an increase in intracellular calcium production and actin reorganization .
PMID:12750173 PMID:19151743
In turn, recruitment of activated Th1 lymphocytes occurs at sites of inflammation .
PMID:12663757 PMID:12750173
Activation of the CXCL10/CXCR3 axis also plays an important role in neurons in response to brain injury for activating microglia, the resident macrophage population of the central nervous system, and directing them to the lesion site. This recruitment is an essential element for neuronal reorganization (By similarity)
Chemical identifiers
CAS, UNII, InChI Key and database cross-references
Show
Chemical identifiers
CAS, UNII, InChI Key and database cross-references
Linked compound data from DrugBank Open Data (CC BY-NC 4.0)
Clove oil
Additional database identifiers
Drugs Product Database (DPD)
3557
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:12663
GenAtlas
VCAM1
GeneCards
VCAM1
GenBank Gene Database
M30257
GenBank Protein Database
179886
UniProt Accession
VCAM1_HUMAN
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:10637
GenAtlas
CXCL10
GeneCards
CXCL10
GenBank Gene Database
X02530
GenBank Protein Database
33918
UniProt Accession
CXL10_HUMAN
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:2197
GenAtlas
COL1A1
GeneCards
COL1A1
GenBank Gene Database
Z74615
GenBank Protein Database
1418928
UniProt Accession
CO1A1_HUMAN
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:2435
GenAtlas
CSF2RA
GeneCards
CSF2RA
GenBank Gene Database
X17648
GenBank Protein Database
32089
Guide to Pharmacology
1707
UniProt Accession
CSF2R_HUMAN
DrugBank citations
If you use DrugBank data in your research, please cite:
- DrugBank 6.02024Recommended citationKnox C., Wilson M., Klinger C.M., et alDrugBank 6.0: the DrugBank Knowledgebase for 2024Nucleic Acids Res. 2024 Jan 552(D1):D1265-D1275
- DrugBank 5.02018Wishart D.S., Feunang Y.D., Guo A.C., et alDrugBank 5.0: a major update to the DrugBank database for 2018Nucleic Acids Res. 2017 Nov 846(D1):D1074-D1082
- DrugBank 4.02014Law V., Knox C., Djoumbou Y., et alDrugBank 4.0: shedding new light on drug metabolismNucleic Acids Res. 2014 Jan 142(1):D1091-7
- DrugBank 3.02011Knox C., Law V., Jewison T., et alDrugBank 3.0: a comprehensive resource for 'omics' research on drugsNucleic Acids Res. 2011 Jan39(Database issue):D1035-41
- DrugBank 2.02008Wishart D.S., Knox C., Guo A.C., et alDrugBank: a knowledgebase for drugs, drug actions and drug targets.Nucleic Acids Research2008 Jan36(Database issue):D901-6
- DrugBank 1.02006Wishart D.S., Knox C., Guo A.C., et alDrugBank: a comprehensive resource for in silico drug discovery and exploration.Nucleic Acids Research2006 Jan 134(Database issue):D668-72