Among the nine Echinacea species, E. purpurea, E. angustifolia and E. pallida, have been widely used to treat the common cold, flu and other infections. In this study, ethanol extracts of these three Echinacea species and E. paradoxa, including its typical variety, E. paradoxa var. paradoxa, were screened in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated macrophage cells to assess potential anti-inflammat...

Sarcoidosis is a systemic inflammatory disease with abnormally high angiogenic activity of inflammatory cells. Reumaherb preparation consisting of three herbs: Echinacea purpurea, Harpagophytum procumbens, and Filipendula ulmaria, and it exerts anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and analgesic activity and stimulates regenerative and immunological processes. The aim of this paper was to estimate th...

Despite the widespread use of herbal medicines, documented herb-drug interactions are sparse. We have reviewed the literature to determine the possible interactions between the seven top-selling herbal medicines (ginkgo, St John's wort, ginseng, garlic, echinacea, saw palmetto and kava) and prescribed drugs. Literature searches were performed using the following databases: Medline (via Pubmed),...

      Plants of Asteraceae are used in traditional medicine and phytotherapy. The two main caffeic acid derivatives, chicoric and caftaric acid which are found in many genus of Asteraceae including Echinacea exhibit important biological activities. The level of these acids in E. purpurea is affected by many factors such as growing situations, extraction methods, storage condit...

Echinacea purpurea (EP) and Echinacea angustifolia (EA) are ones of the most important world's herbs with immunotropic activity. They were traditional medicinal plants used by North American Indians for the treatment of various illnesses. Now they are cultivated in many countries and are used mainly to treat respiratory tract infections. Rhodiola rosea (RR) and Rhodiola quadrifida (RQ) are medi...

Medicinal plants have been widely used by human beings. However, sometimes the biological effects of these plants are not fully known. It is concerned that many natural medicines may contain potentially toxic ingredients and contaminants such as heavy metals. Red blood cells (RBC) and plasma proteins labeled with technetium-99m (99mTc) have several clinical applications and it has been reported...

The timing of herbivory can be an important factor in the strength and direction of plant response to herbivore damage. To determine the effect of vole herbivory timing within a growing season on tallgrass prairie forbs, we used individual plant enclosures to limit vole access to three species, Desmanthus illinoensis, Echinacea purpurea, and Heliopsis helianthoides, in an experimental restorati...

BACKGROUND Echinacea has antiviral activity against influenza viruses in vitro and has traditionally been used for treatment of colds and flu. OBJECTIVES This randomized, double-blind, double-dummy, multicenter, controlled clinical trial compared a new echinacea formulation with the neuraminidase inhibitor oseltamivir, the gold standard treatment for influenza. METHODS Following informed co...

A new, rapid, and reproducible reversed-phased liquid chromatography (LC) method with ultraviolet (UV) absorption and/or mass spectrometry (MS) detection has been developed and validated for quantitation of cichoric acid, a major constituent of Echinacea spp. The method involves the use of a short Phenomenex Hydro-RP C18 column (4 microm, 50 mm x 3.0 mm id) and a simple isocratic mobile phase p...