CONSTITUENT REPORT
Dehydrocostus lactone
Dehydrocostus lactone is a guaianolide sesquiterpene lactone best known in the archive as a dominant marker of costus root oil and one of the compounds behind costus sensitization concerns. The live literature is broader than for many niche constituents: public sources support identity, major occurrence in Saussurea lappa root oil, recurrent preclinical anti-inflammatory and anticancer pathway research, and a long safety history linking it to allergic contact dermatitis in costus-sensitive individuals. The evidence remains largely preclinical for bioactivity, so AromaForge should present it as a high-interest but safety-cautioned constituent rather than a wellness claim ingredient.
Chemical identity and composition
PubChem classifies dehydrocostus lactone as a sesquiterpene lactone with formula C15H18O2. In archive context it is a defining costus-root constituent rather than a trace note; local oil records model costus root oil as a dehydrocostus lactone / costunolide type.
Aroma and practical use
- Use the recorded woody, musky, costus-like, animalic, rooty descriptors to explore a blend's scent character; perceived strength also depends on the other ingredients.
- Review the flagged use concerns across every contributing oil and the selected dilution.
- Read the route, preparation and experimental context before using a study finding to choose an oil.
Reported benefits and effects
Findings retain their study context. An animal or laboratory result describes that experiment.
A Saussurea lappa essential-oil study identified dehydrocostus lactone as the principal compound at 46.75%, with the table value reported at 47.54% in the same paper set.
This confirms that dehydrocostus lactone is a major, not minor, costus-root constituent.
This reference does not establish a therapeutic result or a safe use level for a custom oil blend.
A 2016 bioassay-guided isolation study described dehydrocostus lactone from Saussurea lappa as a targeted cytosolic thioredoxin reductase anticancer agent in preclinical testing.
The accessible PubMed record directly frames the constituent around thioredoxin-reductase targeting in anticancer screening.
This experimental finding does not establish benefit, dose or safety in people using this blend.
A glioma study reported that dehydrocostus lactone suppressed biological characteristics of glioma through NF-kappaB/COX-2 pathway inhibition by targeting IKKbeta.
This is constituent-specific but remains a cancer-model study rather than human evidence.
This experimental finding does not establish benefit, dose or safety in people using this blend.
Older contact-dermatitis literature identified dehydrocostus lactone and costunolide as the haptens responsible for numerous cases of allergic contact dermatitis from costus oil.
This safety signal is longstanding and directly relevant to fragrance interpretation.
The source assessment applies to its specified exposure and preparation; this entry is not an unrestricted-use clearance.
Use concerns and concentration limits
Sensitization concernFlagged
Flagged in the constituent reference; assess the source, route and finished-product concentration.
Phototoxicity concernNot flagged
Not flagged in the current model. This is not proof of absence or unrestricted safety.
Oxidation concernNot flagged
Not flagged in the current model. This is not proof of absence or unrestricted safety.
Penetration enhancementNot flagged
Not flagged in the current model. This is not proof of absence or unrestricted safety.
No numeric constituent-specific use limit is available here. Missing is not an unrestricted-use clearance.
Dehydrocostus lactone is part of the classical sesquiterpene-lactone allergy discussion and should be treated as a sensitization-relevant constituent.
The source assessment applies to its specified exposure and preparation; this entry is not an unrestricted-use clearance.
No direct public citation is attached to this entry.
Its reactive lactone motif likely contributes both to preclinical bioactivity signals and to allergenic hapten behavior, so stronger activity language should always be paired with safety caution.
This reference does not establish a therapeutic result or a safe use level for a custom oil blend.
No direct public citation is attached to this entry.
The current bioactivity literature is mainly cell and animal model work; it should not be translated into clinical efficacy claims.
This reference does not establish a therapeutic result or a safe use level for a custom oil blend.
No direct public citation is attached to this entry.
Constituents it may interact with
These are research candidates recorded in the interaction matrix. They do not add a proven-amplification bonus to the score.
CostunolideAmplification candidate
Candidate in the research matrix. A coefficient alone does not establish amplification at the dose, route or goal of your blend; no proven amplification is inferred from this row.
in vitro · effect
No source citation attached.
Read Costunolide report →How the effects were investigated
electrophilic sesquiterpene-lactone reactivity
The alpha-methylene-gamma-butyrolactone pharmacophore is repeatedly discussed as a key reactive motif behind both biological activity and sensitization potential.
This experimental finding does not establish benefit, dose or safety in people using this blend.
NF-kappaB and COX-2 pathway inhibition
Multiple preclinical papers and reviews describe dehydrocostus lactone as suppressing NF-kappaB-linked signaling, including glioma-focused work that implicates IKKbeta and COX-2 pathway effects.
This experimental finding does not establish benefit, dose or safety in people using this blend.
thioredoxin reductase targeting
Bioassay-guided work identified dehydrocostus lactone as a targeted cytosolic thioredoxin reductase anticancer agent in preclinical screening.
This experimental finding does not establish benefit, dose or safety in people using this blend.
What this report cannot establish
- A reported constituent percentage does not establish an effective human therapeutic dose or the amount absorbed into the body.
- The presence of a constituent does not guarantee a clinical benefit, rash treatment or sleep improvement from a custom blend.
- An unflagged concern or missing use limit does not establish safety for ingestion, inhalation, skin exposure or a particular person.
- A candidate constituent interaction does not establish that two oils amplify one another at the selected proportions.
- Constituent descriptors alone do not establish a precise top, heart or base lifetime in a finished blend.
Known data gaps (6)
- The isolated dehydrocostus lactone bioactivity literature is broad but still largely preclinical.
- This research pass did not verify a modern constituent-specific quantitative dermal limit for isolated dehydrocostus lactone.
- Human evidence is much stronger for allergen relevance than for therapeutic benefit.
- No constituent-specific numeric dermal reference is available here.
- Some findings do not record an explicit exposure route; consult the linked study before applying them to a use.
- Interaction candidates lack an attached source citation and remain unqualified.