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 The aim of this trial was to assess the relative efficacy of a sage/echinacea spray and a chlorhexidine/lidocaine spray in the treatment of acute sore throats. METHODS This was a multicenter, randomized, double-blind, double-dummy controlled trial carried out in eleven general practices in Switzerland. A total of 154 patients (133 analyzed in per protocol collective) at least 12 ye...

Echinacea is an herbaceous perennial of Asteraceae family that grows throughout the eastern and central United States and southern Canada. Three species of Echinacea are valued as medicinal herb: E. purpurea (L.) Moench, E. pallida (Nutt.) Nutt., and E. angustifolia DC (Mistríková & Vaverková, 2007). All three species show pharmacological activity, which appears to result from the combined effe...

UNLABELLED Echinacea purpurea-containing remedies are herbal medicines used in respiratory tract infections and several inflammatory conditions as enhancers of non-specific and modulators of specific cellular immunity. They also exert anti-inflammatory, anti-viral, and anti-microbial activity. The aim of the present study was to compare the in vivo influence of orally administered three Echinac...

Many studies have been done over the years to assess the effectiveness of Echinacea as an immunomodulator. We have assessed the potential bioavailability of alkyl- amides and caffeic acid conjugates using Caco-2 monolayers and compared it to their actual bioavailability in a Phase I clinical trial. The caffeic acid conjugates permeated poorly through the Caco-2 monolayers. Alkylamides were foun...

PURPOSE Evidence on the efficacy and safety of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) for the prevention and treatment of upper-respiratory-tract infection (URTI) in children is reviewed. SUMMARY A search of the literature to June 2005 identified six clinical trials examining the use of herbal medicines and nine trials of other CAM therapies. All articles were critically evaluated for a...

The syntheses of three diacetylenic isobutylamides of Echinacea angustifolia have been achieved by direct synthetic routes by way of a common intermediate. The key step is the alkylation of the anion of the silylated diacetylene. We report the presence of all three diacetylenic isobutylamides in six of the nine Echinacea species: E. angustifolia, E. sanguinea, E. simulata, E. tennesseensis, E. ...

Citation: Presta L, Fondi M, Perrin E, Maida I, Miceli E, Chiellini C, Maggini V, Bogani P, Di Pilato V, Rossolini GM, Mengoni A and Fani R (2016) Arthrobacter sp. EpRS66 and Arthrobacter sp. EpRS71: Draft Genome Sequences from Two Bacteria Isolated from Echinacea purpurea Rhizospheric Soil. Front. Microbiol. 7:1417. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2016.01417 Arthrobacter sp. EpRS66 and Arthrobacter sp. EpR...

Strong seed dormancy has been an obstacle for field production of Echinacea species. Previous research on overcoming Echinacea seed dormancy has been extensive and focused on treatment methods, which involve time and expense, and are incompatible with organic production if synthetic chemicals are used. We have attempted to genetically reduce seed dormancy through selection and breeding in Echin...

The aim of this study was to investigate radioprotective properties of Echinacea purpurea tablets in vivo. We analysed lymphocyte chromosome aberrations (CA), micronuclei (MN), apoptosis of leukocytes and haematological parameters in a group of radiation workers who were identified as carrying dicentric chromosomes in their lymphocytes. All radiation workers were taking two 275 mg Echinacea tab...