INTRODUCTION When directly exposed to various echinacea fractions, human leukocytes ex vivo are strongly stimulated to proliferate and to produce immunostimulation and inflammatory cytokines. A comparison of fractions containing lipoidal small molecules and high-molecular-weight water-soluble polysaccharides indicates that the latter are substantially more potent as immunostimulants. Echinacea ...

Americans spend between $3.5 and $5 billion annually on herbal treatments, and nearly 50 million individuals currently report use of botanical supplements. With so many herbal products on the market, it is imperative that physicians thoroughly question patients with regard to supplement use. Physicians must understand the benefits and risks associated with medicinal herbs and counsel patients a...

BACKGROUND Nitrites are mainly used in food preservation. These materials could change to nitrosamine due to the effect of heat and gastric acid. Nitrosamine is absorbed in intestine and enters the liver and hepatocytes by portal venous system, and hampers the detoxification system of liver by interfering in cytochrome P450 enzymes, so, the liver gently proceeds to cirrhosis and cancer. OBJEC...

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...

this experiment was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of different levels of echinacea (echinacea purpurea) methanol extract on the growth performances (final weight (fw), daily growth ratio (dgr), feed conversion rate (fcr), voluntary feed intake (vfi) and protein efficiency ratio (per) and some of hematological parameters (hemoglobin (hb), hematocrit (hct), red blood cell (rbc) and white blo...

Due to the limited availability of effective pharmaceutical products and serious side effects of the available therapy for leishmaniasis, search for useful medicinal plants is necessary. Previous studies reported preventative effect of Echinacea against Leishmania infections through immunologic stimulation. Here we tested concentrated ethanolic extract of the root of Echinacea purpurea prepared...

BACKGROUND Echinacea preparations are widely used to treat the common cold. OBJECTIVE To assess the efficacy of dried, encapsulated, whole-plant echinacea as early treatment for the common cold. DESIGN Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled community-based trial. SETTING University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin. PARTICIPANTS 148 registered students with common colds of ...