applied sciences Review β-Caryophyllene: A Sesquiterpene with Countless Biological Properties 1, 1, 1 1, 1 Fabrizio Francomano y, Anna Caruso y, Alexia Barbarossa , Alessia Fazio *, Chiara La Torre , Jessica Ceramella 1, Rosanna Mallamaci 2 , Carmela Saturnino 3, Domenico Iacopetta 1 and Maria Stefania Sinicropi 1 1 Department of Pharmacy, Health and Nutritional Sciences, University of Calabria, Via P. Bucci, 87036 Arcavacata di Rende, Italy;
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[email protected] (M.S.S.) 2 Department of Biosciences, Biotechnology and Biopharmaceutics, University of Bari, Via Orabona 4, 70124 Bari, Italy;
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[email protected]; Tel.: +39-0984-493013 The authors have contributed equally to the manuscript. y Received: 18 November 2019; Accepted: 9 December 2019; Published: 11 December 2019 Abstract: β-Caryophyllene (BCP), a natural bicyclic sesquiterpene, is a selective phytocannabinoid agonist of type 2 receptors (CB2-R). It isn’t psychogenic due to the absence of an affinity to cannabinoid receptor type 1 (CB1). Among the various biological activities, BCP exerts anti-inflammatory action via inhibiting the main inflammatory mediators, such as inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), Interleukin 1 beta (IL-1β), Interleukin-6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor-alfa (TNF-α), nuclear factor kapp a-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells (NF-κB), cyclooxygenase 1 (COX-1), cyclooxygenase 2 (COX-2).