Loranthus europaeus is one of the major plant parasites threatening fragile ecosystems oak forests in western Iran. The mistletoe a hemi-parasite which grows on forest species, especially oaks. Carbon isotope composition (?13C) has been central to understand behaviour mistletoes field. This study investigated C and N compositions leaves L. its host oaks (Quercus libani, Q. infectoria brantii) g...

Non-selected tumor patients (n=12) with various solid carcinomas were treated continuously twice weekly over 48 weeks with the aqueous mistletoe extract PS76A2, standardized to active mistletoe lectin. The preparation was applied subcutaneously at a concentration of 15 ng mistletoe lectin per 0.5 ml. Cellular immune response and safety were determined at various times during and after the thera...

BACKGROUND Adjuvant intravesical Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) treatment after resection of non invasive superficial bladder cancer has been shown to significantly decrease tumor recurrence. However, the serious local and systemic side-effects of this treatment have promoted the use of other immunoactive substances, which, to date, have all failed to show efficacy equal to BCG therapy. PATIE...

BACKGROUND Osteosarcoma is the most common bone tumor and is associated with a poor prognosis. Conventional therapies, surgery and chemotherapy, are still the standard but soon reach their limits. New therapeutic approaches are therefore needed. Conventional aqueous mistletoe extracts from the European mistletoe (Viscum album L.) are used in complementary cancer treatment. These commercial extr...

BACKGROUND Cancer-related fatigue (CRF) affects a majority of patients (pts) with symptoms lasting up to several years after finishing therapy. These symptoms lead to decreased health related quality of life. Fatigue during treatment for colorectal cancer is common, but poorly understood and can affect compliance with post-surgical cancer therapy. We examined the fatigue levels during first-lin...

Mistletoe has been used as a drug against different diseases in po­ pular medicine for a long time, but the systematic research into anti-neoplastic activity of mistletoe extracts started only recently. Biological and anti-tumor activity of many protein fractions from mistletoe ex­ tract has been thouroughly investigated by V e s t e r et al. (1968 a, b), who determined optimal conditions for t...

Understanding factors that influence the distribution and abundance of seed dispersers is important because of the role these species play in maintaining plant communities. The temperate forest of Patagonia has an unusually high frequency of mutualisms, including obligate seed dispersal of a keystone mistletoe (Tristerix corymbosus) by the marsupial Dromiciops gliroides. We examined whether the...

The anti-fungal activity of the leaves of African mistletoe plant used in traditional and folkloric medicine was studied using standard procedures. The methanolic extracts of mistletoe leaves harvested from three different host trees {Kola acuminata, Irvingia gabonensis and Persea americana} were tested against clinical isolates of some common pathogenic fungi {Candida albicans and Aspergillus ...

Mistletoe is often used as complementary therapy in oncology. The anti-tumor effects of mistletoe (Iscador) are well documented in-vitro in respect to inhibition of cell proliferation, induction of apoptosis, segmental activation of immune competent cells and trapping of chemotherapeutic drugs within cancer cells by modulating the inhibitory potential of P-glycoprotein (P-gp)-mediated transport...