Commercial Oregano oils with high concentrations of carvacrol have been vigorously promoted as antiviral agents effective against colds and ‘flu, including the pandemic H1N1 virus. However there seems to be no evidence to support these claims. Furthermore, since carvacrol itself is known to be toxic, so-called “carrier oils”, such as olive oil, have been included in formulations to ameliorate t...

While radiation hazards, due to free radical generation, present an enormous challenge for biological and medical safety, Echinacea purpurea is a potent scavenger of a variety of free radicals. The aim of this study was to investigate the radioprotective effect of Echinacea purpurea against oxidative stress in spleen tissues and alterations in some immune responses. Rats were whole body irradia...

The aim of this open-label, fixed-sequence study was to investigate the potential of the botanical supplement Echinacea purpurea to interact with etravirine, a nonnucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor of HIV. Fifteen HIV-infected patients receiving antiretroviral therapy with etravirine (400 mg once daily) for at least 4 weeks were included. E. purpurea root/extract-containing capsules wer...

We announce here the draft genome sequence of Pseudomonas sp. strain EpS/L25, isolated from the stem/leaves of the medicinal plant Echinacea purpurea This genome will allow for comparative genomics in order to identify genes associated with the production of bioactive compounds and antibiotic resistance.

Echinacea (E.) purpurea herb is commonly known as the purple coneflower, red sunflower and rudbeckia. In this paper, we report the curative efficacy of an Echinacea extract in gamma-irradiated mice. E. purpurea was given to male mice that were divided into five groups (control, treated, irradiated, treated before irradiation & treated after irradiation) at a dose of 30 mg/kg body weight for 2 w...

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...

in order to assess the immunopathological effects of aqueous echinacea purpurea extract (epe) on mice experimentally challenged with pasteurella multocida serotype a, forty female balb/c mice were randomly divided into four groups. the groups included a control group (received sterile distilled water 2 times/week for 2 weeks, intraperitoneally and then 100 μl sterile saline intranasally), a pma...

echinacea purpurea is an herbaceous perennial plant as members of the asteraceae family. it is one the important medicinal plant in pharmacy industrial. active substances of echinaceae are amplifier of body's immune system and antivirus. echinacea is not native to iran. the phytochemical traits of medicinal plants depend on ecological conditions involving growing areas, climate conditions; vari...

Our previous studies indicate that the majority of in vitro monocyte/macrophage activation exhibited by extracts of Echinacea depends on bacterial components. In the present study, total bacterial load was determined within E. purpurea samples and ranged from 6.4 × 10(6) to 3.3 × 10(8) bacteria/g of dry plant material. To estimate total bacterial load, we developed a PCR-based quantification me...

OBJECTIVE To review the evidence supporting complementary and alternative medicine approaches to treatment and prevention of the common cold in adults. QUALITY OF EVIDENCE MEDLINE, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews were searched from January 1966 to September 2009 combining the key words common cold or influenza with echinacea, garlic, ginseng, probiotics, vitamin C, and...