Echinacea preparations are widely used for common cold. Many consumers and healthcare professionals are not aware that products available under the term Echinacea may differ in their composition, due to the use of different species, plant parts, extraction methods and addition of other components. In 2005, a Cochrane review has been published to provide objective evidence whether the various Ec...

Echinacea is used widespread as an herbal paramunity-inducer to reduce various infections in humans. The recommended application is a prophylactic use for several weeks. On the other hand, it was shown that e.g. phagocytosis is depressed by an intake duration exceeding 5 days. The aim of the present trials was to test if a repeated short-time application of Echinacea juice as feed additive is s...

The genus Echinacea (Asteraceae) is native to North America and consists of nine species (McGregor 1968). E. angustifolia DC, a narrow leafed species, is distributed on barrens and dry prairies from Minnesota to Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, the Dakotas, Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba (McGregor 1968; Kindscher 1989; Foster 1991). E. angustifolia grows lower an...

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

Since years ago, phytopharmaceutical drugs have been used by various societies, as a traditional treatment. Echinacea purpurea (Asteraceae) is the best known of the dozen or so species of the genus Echinacea, a group of perennial prairie wildflowers native to the central grasslands of North American. E. purpurea is cultivated widely throughout the United states, Canada and Europe, although it h...

OBJECTIVE To investigate the safety and efficacy of 2 extracts of echinacea for preventing upper respiratory tract infections. DESIGN Three-armed, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. SETTING Four military institutions and 1 industrial plant. PARTICIPANTS Three hundred two volunteers without acute illness at time of enrollment. INTERVENTIONS Ethanolic extract from Echinac...

Several viruses associated with upper respiratory diseases have been shown to stimulate the secretion of pro-inflammatory cytokines, including chemokines, sometimes in the absence of viral cytopathology. We evaluated the ability of a standardized preparation of the popular herbal medicine Echinacea (Echinaforce, an ethanol extract of herb and roots of E. purpurea, and containing known concentra...

Inhibition of prostaglandin E(2) (PGE(2)) production in lipopolysaccharide-stimulated RAW264.7 mouse macrophage cells was assessed with an enzyme immunoassay following treatments with Echinacea extracts or synthesized alkamides. Results indicated that ethanol extracts diluted in media to a concentration of 15 microg/mL from E. angustifolia, E. pallida, E. simulata, and E. sanguinea significantl...

BACKGROUND Echinacea is a herbal preparation that is frequently used to treat the common cold. Spending on echinacea in the United States has risen to >300 million dollars annually. METHODS A total of 322 articles related to echinacea and colds, including 9 placebo-controlled clinical trials, were identified using the Medline and PubMed databases. Eleven features of experimental design that a...