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Chemical Marker Profile and Biological Effects of Natural Products Containing Echinacea

  • Brian C Foster , Cathy Drouin , Anthony Krantis , Mitra Panahi , Aleksandra Franovic , Frank J Burczynski , Ping Yiang , John T Arnason , John Livesey , Robert Drobitch and Colin Briggs
Published/Copyright: December 23, 2005
Journal of Complementary and Integrative Medicine
From the journal Journal of Complementary and Integrative Medicine Volume 2 Issue 1

Natural health products containing Echinacea have been used by many patient populations and although there are reports of adverse effects with products containing Echinacea, few clearly characterized the nature of the product with respect to constituent content, the nature of the products and the mechanism underlying the interaction. The objective of this study was to examine blended and single-entity Echinacea products containing ground plant material or extracts in commercial capsules, herbal teas, tablets, tinctures and soft gel liquid-filled capsule formulations in an attempt to correlate biomarker constituent content and effects on cellular and subcellular parameters of interest. HPLC analysis indicated significant variability in the major biomarker constituent content in extracts from these Echinacea products. These extracts were also examined for their potential to affect cytochrome P450 CYP1A1/2, 2C9*1, 2C9*2, 2C19, 2D6, 3A4, 3A5, 3A7, and flavin-containing monooxygenase 3 (FMO3); CYP3A5-mediated metabolism, and expression of CYP3A4 and ABCB1. The extracts of some products were also examined for their effect cellular processes such as cell proliferation, nitric oxide formation as a marker of immunostimulatory capacity, and lactate dehydrogenase release as a marker for cell toxicity. The present study indicated that key Echinacea constituents varied widely within and between the products tested and that these levels did not correlate with the ability of these products to markedly affect the cellular processes studied.

Keywords: Echinacea; cytochrome P450; ATPase; P-glycoprotein; FMO3; nitric oxide; inhibition; herbals; drug interactions; natural products; CYP3A4; ABCB1; NAT
Published Online: 2005-12-23

©2011 Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co. KG, Berlin/Boston

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  15. Mentorship Programs within a Network to Build Research Literacy & Capacity in Complementary & Alternative Medicine (CAM) Practitioners
  16. Chemical Marker Profile and Biological Effects of Natural Products Containing Echinacea
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https://doi.org/10.2202/1553-3840.1026
Keywords for this article
Echinacea; cytochrome P450; ATPase; P-glycoprotein; FMO3; nitric oxide; inhibition; herbals; drug interactions; natural products; CYP3A4; ABCB1; NAT

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Invited Review
  2. An Evidence-based Systemic Review of Glucosamine Conducted by the Natural Standard Research Collaboration
  3. From Bench to Bedside to Consumer: Where are the Regulatory Problems for Probiotics?
  4. Review Article
  5. Integrating Complementary and Alternative Medicine With Primary Health Care Through Public Health To Improve Chronic Disease Management
  6. Conference Presentation
  7. CAM Health Services and Policy Research in Canada - New Directions: Abstracts from the First Annual IN-CAM Symposium, December 4&5, 2004, Toronto, Canada
  8. CAM Research in Canada: Sharing Successes and Challenges - Abstracts from the 2nd Annual IN-CAM Symposium, November 12&13, 2005, Toronto, Canada
  9. Case Report
  10. Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome Successfully Treated with Low Level Laser Therapy
  11. Clinical Observation of 11 Patients with Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Treated with Traditional Chinese Medicine
  12. Research Article
  13. The Chinese Quality Of Life Instrument: Development Of A New Health-Related Quality Of Life Instrument Using Factor Analysis And Structural Equation Modeling
  14. Public Attitudes Towards Chinese Medicine in Melbourne, Australia
  15. Mentorship Programs within a Network to Build Research Literacy & Capacity in Complementary & Alternative Medicine (CAM) Practitioners
  16. Chemical Marker Profile and Biological Effects of Natural Products Containing Echinacea
  17. Position Paper
  18. Providing Probiotics to Sub-Saharan Africa: Ethical Principles to Consider
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