Extracts of the plant Echinacea purpurea are widely used for medicinal purposes. Effective quality control of these extracts requires rapid methods to determine their chemical composition. A new method for analysis of caffeic acid derivatives and alkamides from Echinacea extracts has been developed. With this method, isomeric isobutylamides and 2-methylbutylamides can be distinguished, a capabi...

Echinacea purpurea, commonly referred to as the purple coneflower, is native to the United States and was first discovered by Native American Indians as a medicinal herb. Liquid extracts of Echinacea purpurea were evaluated for the capacity to stimulate total immunoglobulin immune responses in male CD1 (Charles River Laboratory) mice infected with an antigen of SRBC (sheep red blood cells). A c...

The genus Echinacea, Asteraceae, is comprised of nine species, which are perennial herbs indigenous to North America and which have been traditionally used as medicinal plants for centuries. Three Echinacea species, E. angustifolia DC var. angustifolia, E. purpurea (L.) Moench, and E. pallida (Nutt.) Nutt., are currently being traded internationally in the natural products market. Echinacea pro...

BACKGROUND Aneuploid ermpglasm is an important resource for genetic studies and identification of individual chromosomes in the cells of the aneuploid is an important step. The karyotype has already been established for purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea L.), but due to the high similarity in the morphology of several pairs of chromosomes in this species, it cannot be used to identify indivi...

Alkylamides present in Echinacea species have reported immunomodulatory actions, yet their direct effects on T lymphocytes, key mediators of antiviral immunity, are poorly understood. We hypothesized that constituents present in ethanolic extracts of Echinacea species exert direct immunomodulatory effects on human Jurkat T cells. Modulation of IL-2 production by submaximally stimulated Jurkat c...

BACKGROUND With a traditional medical use for treatment of various ailments, herbal preparations of Echinacea are now popularly used to improve immune responses. One likely mode of action is that alkamides from Echinacea bind to cannabinoid type 2 (CB2) receptors and induce a transient increase in intracellular Ca2+. Here, we show that unidentified compounds from Echinacea purpurea induce cytos...

The Effect of Hormone Seed Priming Using Gibberellic Acid on Germination Characteristics and Seedling Growth Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea)

Common symptoms of upper respiratory infections, such as sore throat, cough, and inflammation, are often caused by bacteria, sometimes as a complication of virus infection. Extracts of Echinacea purpurea (Asteraceae) have been advocated traditionally for use by individuals suffering from these symptoms, although the underlying basis for the beneficial effects of Echinacea is not known. We hypot...