Echinacea: A plant with deep roots and a big reputation

+Natural health

In print

Echinacea: A plant with deep roots and a big reputation

October 2021

Phil Rasmussen

Friday 1 October 2021, 01:15 AM

Echinacea is also known as purple coneflower (Image: Victoria on Unsplash)

Pharmacist and medical herbalist Phil Rasmussen traces the history of echinacea and the many clinical trials into its efficacy

Echinacea root was an important medicinal herb to indigenous North Americans, used to treat animal bites and a wide range of infectious and inflammato

References

Felter HW, Lloyd JU. King’s American Dispensatory. 1898.
Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. http://www.mnh.si.edu/lewisandclark/index.html?loc=/lewisandclark/home.html
Borchardt JK. Native American drug therapy: United States and Canada. Drug News Perspect 2003;16(3):187–91.
Borchers AT, Keen CL, Stern JS, et al. Inflammation and Native American medicine: the role of botanicals. Am J Clin Nutr 2000;72(2):339–47.
The Lloyd Library and Museum. www.lloydlibrary.org
Moerman DE. Medicinal plants of North America. Ann Arbor, MI: Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan; 1986.
Dietz B, Heilmann J, Bauer R. Absorption of dodeca-2E, 4E, 8Z, 10E/Z-tetraenoic acid isobutylamides after oral application of Echinacea purpurea tincture. Planta Medica 2001;67(9):863–64.
Jager H, Meinel L, Dietz B, et al. Transport of alkamides from Echinacea species through caco-2 monolayers. Planta Medica 2002;68(5):469–71.
Stevenson LM, Matthias A, Banbury L, et al. Modulation of macrophage immune responses by Echinacea. Molecules 2005;10(10):1279–85.
Woelkart K, Koidl C, Grisold A, et al. Bioavailability and pharmacokinetics of alkamides from the roots of Echinacea angustifolia in humans. J Clin Pharmacol 2005;45(6):683–89.
Gulledge TV, Collette NM, Mackey E, et al. Mast cell degranulation and calcium influx are inhibited by an Echinacea purpurea extract and the alkylamide dodeca-2E,4E-dienoic acid isobutylamide. J Ethnopharmacol 2018;212:166–74.
Qu L, Chen Y, Wang X, et al. Patterns of variation in alkamides and cichoric acid in roots and aboveground part of Echinacea purpurea (L.) Moench. HortScience 2005;40(5):1239–42.
Perry NB, van Klink JW, Burgess EJ, et al. Alkamide levels in Echinacea purpurea: effects of processing, drying and storage. Planta Medica 2000;66(1):54–56.
Nagoor Meeran MF, Javed H, Sharma C, et al. Can Echinacea be a potential candidate to target immunity, inflammation, and infection - The trinity of coronavirus disease 2019. Heliyon 2021;7(2):e05990.
Aucoin M, Cardozo V, McLaren MD, et al. A systematic review on the effects of Echinacea supplementation on cytokine levels: Is there a role in COVID-19? Metabol Open 2021;100115.
Clifford LJ, Nair MG, Rana J, et al. Bioactivity of alkamides isolated from Echinacea purpurea (L.) Moench. Phytomedicine 2002;9(3):249–53.
LaLone CA, Rizshsky L, Hammer KD, et al. Endogenous levels of Echinacea alkylamides and ketones are important contributors to the inhibition of prostaglandin E2 and nitric oxide production in cultured macrophages. J Agric Food Chem 2009;57(19):8820–30.
Oláh A, Szabó-Papp J, Soeberdt M, et al. Echinacea purpurea-derived alkylamides exhibit potent anti-inflammatory effects and alleviate clinical symptoms of atopic eczema. J Dermatol Sci 2017;88(1):67–77.
Sharma M, Schoop R, Hudson JB. Echinacea as an antiinflammatory agent: the influence of physiologically relevant parameters. Phytother Res 2009;23(6):863–67.
Benson JM, Pokorny AJ, Rhule A, et al. Echinacea purpurea extracts modulate murine dendritic cell fate and function. Food Chem Toxicol 2010;48(5):1170–77.
Park S, Lee MS, Jung S, et al. Echinacea purpurea protects against restraint stress-induced immunosuppression in BALB/c mice. J Med Food 2018;21(3):261–68.
Liu R, Caram-Salas NL, Li W, et al. Interactions of Echinacea spp. root extracts and alkylamides with the endocannabinoid system and peripheral inflammatory pain. Front Pharmacol 2021;12:651292.
Sharma M, Arnason JT, Burt A, et al. Echinacea extracts modulate the pattern of chemokine and cytokine secretion in rhinovirus-infected and uninfected epithelial cells. Phytother Res 2006;20(2):147–52.
Sharma M, Arnason JT, Hudson JB. Echinacea extracts modulate the production of multiple transcription factors in uninfected cells and rhinovirus-infected cells. Phytother Res 2006;20(12):1074–79.
Rasmussen PL. Effects of Echinacea on virus induced respiratory cytokines. Phytonews, February 2006.
Bharadwaj S, El-Kafrawy SA, Alandijany TA, et al. Structure-based identification of natural products as SARS-CoV-2 M^pro antagonist from Echinacea angustifolia using computational approaches. Viruses 2021;13(2):305.
Mesri M, Esmaeili Saber SS, Godazi M, et al. The effects of combination of Zingiber officinale and Echinacea on alleviation of clinical symptoms and hospitalization rate of suspected COVID-19 outpatients: a randomized controlled trial. J Complement Integr Med 2021;10.1515/jcim-2020-0283.
Zhai Z, Haney DM, Wu L, et al. Alcohol extract of Echinacea pallida reverses stress-delayed wound healing in mice. Phytomedicine 2009;16(6-7):669–78.
Bauer R, Wagner H. Echinacea species as potential immunostimulatory drugs. In: Farnsworth NR, et al (eds). Economic and medicinal plant research, Vol 5. London, UK: Academic Press; 1991
Moghtaderi M, Mirzaie A, Zabet N, et al. Enhanced antibacterial activity of Echinacea angustifolia extract against multidrug-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae through niosome encapsulation. Nanomaterials (Basel) 2021;11(6):1573.
Maggini V, Mengoni A, Bogani P, et al. Promoting model systems of microbiota-medicinal plant interactions. Trends Plant Sci 2020;25(3):223–25.
Presta L, Bosi E, Fondi M, et al. Phenotypic and genomic characterization of the antimicrobial producer Rheinheimera sp. EpRS3 isolated from the medicinal plant Echinacea purpurea: insights into its biotechnological relevance. Res Microbiol 2017;168(3):293–305.
Chiellini C, Maida I, Maggini V, et al. Preliminary data on antibacterial activity of Echinacea purpurea-associated bacterial communities against Burkholderia cepacia complex strains, opportunistic pathogens of Cystic Fibrosis patients. Microbiol Res 2017;196:34–43.
Hashem MA, Neamat-Allah ANF, Hammza HEE, et al. Impact of dietary supplementation with Echinacea purpurea on growth performance, immunological, biochemical, and pathological findings in broiler chickens infected by pathogenic E. coli. Trop Anim Health Prod 2020;52(4):1599–607.
Abdel-Naby Awad OG. Echinacea can help with Azithromycin in prevention of recurrent tonsillitis in children. Am J Otolaryngol 2020;41(4):102344.
Vimalanathan S, Schoop R, Suter A, et al. Prevention of influenza virus induced bacterial superinfection by standardized Echinacea purpurea, via regulation of surface receptor expression in human bronchial epithelial cells. Virus Res 2017;233:51–59.
Rasmussen PL. Herbal remedies for seasonal rhinitis. Pharmacy Today, September 2021.
Yalçın E, Macar O, Kalefetoğlu Macar T, et al. Multi-protective role of Echinacea purpurea L. water extract in Allium cepa L. against mercury(II) chloride. Environ Sci Pollut Res Int 2021;1–9.
Lopresti AL, Smith SJ. An investigation into the anxiety-relieving and mood-enhancing effects of Echinacea angustifolia (EP107™): A randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled study. J Affect Disord 2021;293:229–37.

Natural health archive

Class

CLASStime: Medication wastage

In this article, Sue Frankland looks at the global problem of wastage of medications, including causes such as overprescribing and non-adherence. She also presents information from her master’s dissertation on how people understand, and respond to, medication expiration dates

Friday 1 March 2024, 12:35 AM

17 minutes to Read

Hosted Content 2

Recognising and managing dehydration with Hydralyte

Why recognising the signs of dehydration is important...

Brought to you by Care Pharmaceuticals

Thursday 1 February 2024, 08:30 AM

2 minutes to Read

Facebook

Pharmacy Today

Echinacea: A plant with deep roots and a big reputation