OBJECTIVE Various immunological effects have been reported during application of mistletoe preparations. Because these data are heterogeneous, we performed a placebo controlled study to investigate (1) effects on peripheral granulocyte and eosinophil counts, (2) related cytokine levels and (3) whether effects are related to mistletoe lectin (ML). METHODS 43 volunteers were randomized to recei...

Mistletoe is collected wildly on various plants and Phragmanthera incana is noted to grow on different plant hosts. This study was designed to carry out the ethnobotanical survey, phytochemical and mineral analyses of Phragmanthera incana, a species of mistletoe growing on three plant hosts namely Cocoa (Theobroma cacao), Kolanut (Cola nitida) and Bush mango (Irvingia gabonensis). Mistletoe sam...

Background. Osteosarcoma is a highly malignant bone tumour. After the second relapse, the 12-month postrelapse disease-free survival (PRDFS) rate decreases below 20%. Oral Etoposide is often used in clinical practice after surgery as an "adjuvant" outside any protocol and with only limited evidence of improved survival. Viscum album fermentatum Pini (Viscum) is an extract of mistletoe plants gr...

Materials and methods: Hepatotoxicity was induced by CCl4 orally (0.28 mL/kg). Rats received either Viscum album at 1 of 2 dose levels (0.1 or 0.2 mL/kg) once weekly subcutaneously alone or with silymarin (25 mg/kg, orally), or silymarin (25 mg/kg) once daily orally for 1 month, starting at the time of administration of CCl4. Liver damage was assessed by determining liver serum enzyme activitie...

Host size and distance from an infected plant have been previously found to affect mistletoe occurrence in woody vegetation but the effect of host plant competition on mistletoe infection has not been empirically tested. For an individual tree, increasing competition from neighbouring trees decreases its resource availability, and resource availability is also known to affect the establishment ...

Several plants are used for their decorative effect during winter holidays. This review explores the toxic reputation and proposed management for exposures to several of those, namely poinsettia (Euphorbia pulcherrima), English holly (Ilex aquifolium), American holly (Ilex opaca), bittersweet (Solanum dulcamara), Jerusalem cherry (Solanum pseudocapsicum), American mistletoe (Phoradendron seroti...

BACKGROUND Extracts from Viscum album (VA-E) have been shown to induce apoptosis and immunoactivation. To exclude possible B-CLL propagating effects, the in vitro reactions of cultured peripheral blood B-CLL cells were analysed. PATIENTS AND METHODS Intracellular expression of apoptosis-associated mitochondrial Apo2.7 and proliferation-associated Ki-67 molecules in B-CLL cells from patients t...

An old goal of natural complementary medical therapy has been to aim at a long-term stimulation of natural resistance in order to restrain cancer progression or improve defective immunological conditions without toxic side effects. Mistletoe extracts were applied to a large number of cancer patients because of their modulatory effect on the natural immune system. By carefully removing lectins, ...

The hemiparasitic flowering plant Viscum album (European mistletoe) is known for its very special life cycle, extraordinary biochemical properties, and extremely large genome. size of genome estimated to be 30 times larger than the human 600 model Arabidopsis thaliana . To achieve insights into Gene Space genome, which defined as space including surrounding protein-coding regions, a transcripto...