BACKGROUND Extracts and products (roots and/or aerial parts) from Echinacea ssp. represent a profitable market sector for herbal medicines thanks to different functional features. Alkamides and polyacetylenes, phenols like caffeic acid and its derivatives, polysaccharides and glycoproteins are the main bioactive compounds of Echinacea spp. This study aimed at investigating the capacity of selec...

conclusions the current study findings indicated that echinacea purpurea extract played an important role in the protection against den toxicity in rats. results den induced hepatotoxicity and nephrotoxicity in all the treated animals by elevated serum alt, ast, alp and bun, creatinin and total and direct bilirubin levels. ast, bun and total and direct bilirubin significantly decreased in den +...

background: it is important to understand the efficacy of immunoregulatory materials, herbal remedies or probiotics, in different parts of immune system following vaccination with different tropism. objectives: aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of echinacea purpurea and a probiotic (protexin) on systemic and mucosal immune response in turkey. methods: a total of 288 1-day-old male tu...

Echinacea species are popularly included in various formulations to treat upper respiratory tract infections. These products are of commercial importance, with a collective sales figure of $132 million in 2009. Due to their close taxonomic alliance it is difficult to distinguish between the three Echinacea species and incidences of incorrectly labeled commercial products have been reported. The...

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...

OBJECTIVE To analyze the effects of certain herbs on sperm DNA and on the fertilization process. DESIGN Prospective comparative study. SETTING Clinical and academic research environment. PATIENT(S) Donor sperm specimens. INTERVENTION(S) Zona-free hamster oocytes were incubated for 1 hour in saw palmetto (Serenoa repens), echinacea purpura, ginkgo biloba, St. John's wort (Hypericum perfo...

A major safety concern with the use of herbal medicinal products (HMP) is their interactions with conventional medicines, which are often mediated via the cytochrome P450 (CYP) system. Echinacea is a widely used over-the-counter HMP, with proven immunomodulatory properties. Its increasing use makes research into its safety an urgent concern. Previously, we showed that Echinacea extracts and its...

The aim of this study was to set up and validate an RP-LC method with DAD-detection to quantify caffeic acid derivatives in various Echinacea spp. Samples were extracted with 80% methanol. The analyses were carried out on a Lichrospher RP-18 column (125 mm x 4 mm i.d., 5 microm), with a mobile phase gradient, which increases the acetonitrile level in a phosphoric acid solution (0.1%). The flow ...

Article history: Received 6 March 2008 Received in revised form 3 July 2008 Accepted 5 July 2008 The aim of the present trial was to evaluate the effect of repeated short-time applications of Echinacea purpurea juice as feed additive to initiate an immune response. In a trial with 70 white layers (LSL) two Echinacea juices as feed additives were tested for their influence on feed intake, perfor...

This review evaluates the safety of echinacea and elderberry in pregnancy. Both herbs are commonly used to prevent or treat upper respiratory tract infections (URTIs) and surveys have shown that they are also used by pregnant women. The electronic databases PubMed, ISI Web of Science, AMED, EMBASE, Natural Medicines Comprehensive Database, and Cochrane Library were searched from inception to No...