What is Echinacea Purpurea?Good function and application of Polyphenols and Chicoric acid from Echinacea Purpurea Extract?

Safety Profile:Echinacea Purpurea extracts.

Echinacea Extract ECHINACEA PURPUREA ROOT EXTRACT;ECHINACEA PURPUREA EXTRACT Echinacea angustifolia,Coneflower extract 289-808-4 90028-20-9 Chicoric acid,dicaffeoyltartaric acid.CAS.NO:70831-56-0 photo picture image Historical use, modern research, and herbal reference publications show Echinacea to have an excellent safety profile.When taken at recommended doses, there is little or no toxicity associated with the use of Echinacea. Fresh-pressed juice of E. purpurea (aerial parts) is sometimes given by injection in European phytotherapy (i.m., s.c. and i.v. routes) and this can result in a slight fever (elevation of temperature of 0.5 to 1 degree). This response is interpreted as a reflection of the immune-stimulating action, viz., the secretion of interferon and IL-1 by activated macrophages (Mengs et al., 1991).
Side Effects:
Echinacea is essentially nontoxic when taken orally. People should not take Echinacea without consulting a physician if they have an autoimmune illness, such as lupus, or other progressive diseases, such as tuberculosis or multiple sclerosis. Those who are allergic to flowers of the daisy family should take Echinacea with caution. There are no known contraindications to the use of Echinacea during pregnancy or lactation.
Echinacea Extract.Echinacea Root Extract.Echinacea Herb Extract.Chicoric acid,dicaffeoyltartaric acid.Polyphenols.CAS.NO:70831-56-0.Echinacea Purpurea,Echinacea angustifolia,Coneflower extract.CAS.NO.084696-11-7 photo picture image

Toxicology of Echinacea:

The toxicity of Echinacea sp. appears to be very low. Acute, subacute, and genotoxicity studies on mice and rats and found E. purpurea to be "virtually non-toxic to rats and mice"17. Test animals were given oral doses of the expressed juice over a four-week period at a dose equivalent to many times the human therapeutic dose. Laboratory tests and necropsy finding could not demonstrate any evidence for toxicity. All mutagenicity and carcinogenicity studies gave negative results. In a comprehensive review of the literature on the safety of E. purpurea, it was concluded that the squeezed sap of the plant is well tolerated on long term use, with no significant side-effects when the sap was administered orally18. This conclusion has been reported by others1, who found no published reports indicting echinacea with toxic side-effects. In a recent in vitro study examining the efficacy of echinacea, the extract was not found to diminish the viability of peripheral blood monocuclear cells after 4 hours at concentrations up to 1000mg/ml19.

Toxicity and Contraindications: Most authorities feel there is no toxicity, others have listed several. Even though there is no clear clinical evidence, some authorities, such as Commission E and PDR for Herbal Medicine, say Echinacea purpurea is contraindicated in auto-immune disease (see discussion above, under mode of action). Others believe some people are allergic to it and that because of this, it is contraindicated in asthma. Since there are 10`s of millions of doses to these plants used monthly, if any significant contraindications where present, more case would be observed.
Many feel that it should not be used extensively during pregnancy due to the blood cleaning quality of these plants.

Acute Toxicity and Chronic Toxicity:

Using standard toxicological assessment methods, animal experiments have so far failed to demonstrate echinacea-related toxicity. According to Mengs, oral doses up to 15 g/kg and intravenous doses up to 5 g/kg failed to demonstrate major pathology. This group concluded that a lethal dose could not be found; hence LD50 (dose at which half of experimental animals are killed) was incalculable.56 Lenk et al. have reported that injection of varying doses of concentrated echinacea polysaccharide fractions in 18 mice did allow calculation of LD50 at 2,500 mg/kg.58 Due to the nature of animal studies, small sample sizes, unblinded methods, types of echinacea product (concentrated extract), and modes of administration (injection), these results are not generalizable to human use. Nevertheless, these results suggest that there is a wide therapeutic window of safety between the typical doses consumed orally (200 to 2,000 mg in 50~80 kg adults = from 2.5 to 40 mg/kg) and the estimated intravenous lethal dose of 2,500 mg/kg. Although not conclusive, these results are certainly reassuring, especially when compared with much less favorable therapeutic windows for common over-the-counter medications such as analgesics and decongestants.

Laboratory analysis of blood, urine, and organ specimens from animals treated with echinacea products provides some additional evidence of safety. Experiments using rats and mice fed up to 8 g/kg/day over several weeks failed to demonstrate measurable adverse effects. Body weight, organ weight, histopathological analyses of tissue, and blood studies such as complete blood count, liver enzymes, creatinine, urea, cholesterol, triglycerides, and blood glucose have been reported as unaffected by oral dosing of echinacea.Genetic studies looking for chromosome aberration and sister chromatid exchange in bacteria and cultured animal cells have similarly been reported as negative for mutagenicity.A polysaccharide fraction isolated from E. purpurea was reported as negative for mutagenicity in a genotoxicity human lymphocyte assay.59 Maximum feasible oral and intravenous doses of ethanol stabilized fresh pressed juice of E. purpurea have similarly been reported as negative for measurable damage in mice or rats.Injection of E. purpurea extract into chick embryos failed to cause any detectable changes in development.60 So far, screens for toxicity have been overwhelmingly negative.

Contraindications

According to the German Commission E, the use of Echinacea species is not recommended in cases of progressive systemic diseases (McGuffin et al., 1997) (e.g., AIDS, tuberculosis, diabetes), or systemic diseases in which an autoimmune component is known or suspected, including multiple sclerosis, leukemia, lupus erythematosus, collagenosis, and other connective tissue diseases.
Tendency to allergies (raised IgE titers) (Anonymous, 1990) (see Side effects). Echinacea has been proven to raise immune complex concentrations in the blood (Anonymous, 1990).
Naturopathic physicians assert that the use of Echinacea for acute treatment of colds and flu symptoms in patients with autoimmune disorders is probably safe (Anonymous, 1990).
Opinions differ as to whether Echinacea extracts should be contraindicated in AIDS patients or not (Berger, 1993). Some researchers have theorized that HIV triggers autoimmune responses that may be responsible for many of the symptoms of AIDS, because the cell coating of HIV resembles CD4 receptors that are found on normal cells. If AIDS does include an autoimmune component, then Echinacea should probably be avoided by AIDS patients, or at least only taken for acute infections and for less than 10 days.

The reported adverse effects of been uncommon and minor: abdominal upset, nausea, dizziness. Persons with a history of allergy to any plant in the daisy family (including ragweed, marigold, and chrysanthemum) may be at greater risk for allergic reaction to echinacea.

Drug Interactions

The suggested potential to stimulate TNF-a, IL-1, and IL-6 lead some to believe that it should not be used by AIDS patients, as it may speed the course of their disease.

Furthermore, as an immune stimulant, caution should be used in combining it with immuno-suppressive drugs such as corticosteroids, cyclosporine, amiodarone, methotrexate, and ketoconazole

In vitro studies shoe echinacea to be a mild inhibitor of cytochrome p450 3A4 enzyme complex system, leading to increased levels of metabolization of some drugs such as itraconazole, fexofenadine, and lovastatin

Pregnancy and Lactation:

There are no known contraindications to the use of Echinacea preparations during pregnancy and/or lactation. However, a remark in the German Commission E monograph on Echinacea purpurea states that it is contraindicated in pregnancy (De Smet et al., 1993). Pregnant and lactating women are advised to consult their physicians prior to using any medication.

Side Effects:

There are isolated cases of allergic responses to Echinacea. Skin patch testing of an Echinacea-containing (10% tincture) ointment found two cases out of 1,032 who reacted positively; however, owing to the presence of additive materials in the preparation used, a false,positive reaction in those two cases could not be ruled out (Bruynzeel et al., 1992). During the period from 1989-1995 in Germany, out of 13 cases of putative side effects from oral E. purpurea fresh-pressed juice (Echinacin) reported to authorities, only 4 cases could be considered as causally resulting from the treatment and all were allergic skin reactions (Parnham, 1996).
A case of anaphylaxis in a woman with atopy (allergy) was reported as likely from Echinacea (E. angustifolia whole plant and E. purpurea root), even though she had been taking other dietary supplements as well. Radioallergosorbent (RAST) testing of other atopy patients found Echinacea-binding IgE antibodies occurred in 19% by the skinprick test. In Australia two years earlier, as many as 5% of atopy patients were taking Echinacea on a regular basis. In the RAST test for Echinacea-binding IgE, 20% of stored sera samples showed a "moderate to strong reactivity" (Mullins, 1998). From July 1996 to November 1998 in Australia, there were 37 reports of "suspected adverse reactions in association" with Echinacea. Twenty-one of these reports concerned allergic-like reactions in patients of ages 3-58. In 19 of these cases, Echinacea was the sole suspect and onset of symptoms occurred within 3 days from the start of treatment. In 12 cases, patients had a medical history of hayfever/conjunctivitis/allergic rhinitis and/or asthma. In 21 cases, the allergic-like effects consisted of angioedema (n=3), bronchospasm (n=9), chest pain (n=4), dyspnea (n=8), and urticaria (n=5) (Anonymous, 1999).
A girl age 11 with diabetes since age two given Echinacea during the cold and flu season developed unexplained high blood sugar readings for a period of months, despite a steady increase in insulin levels. A return to normal insulin dosage was possible after discontinuing Echinacea. An authority on herbal medicines suggested that since bacterial and viral infections are associated with the release of stress hormones, such as cortisol, norepinephrine and epinephrine, they may have caused glucose control to be compromised (Finlay, 1999).

Special Precautions:None known.

Toxicology:
Mutagenicity:Tests for mutagenicity and carcinogenicity have been negative (Wagner, 1997; Mengs et al., 1991).
Toxicity in Animal Models
The LD50 of fresh-pressed E. purpurea juice in mice has been measured at 50 mL/kg, i.v. (Bauer and Wagner, 1991). The polysaccharides from the aerial portions of E. purpurea showed an LD50 of 1,000 to 2,500 mg/kg i.p. in mice. Chronic administration of the fresh-pressed juice (E. purpurea aerial parts) to rats at doses many times the human therapeutic dose produced no evidence of toxic effects. Acute and subacute toxicity studies in rats found no significant toxicity from oral dosing up to 15 g/kg and 8 g/kg, respectively (Mengs et al., 1991).

Reference:

1.What is Echinacea Purpurea?Good function and application of Polyphenols and Chicoric acid from Echinacea Purpurea Extract?

last edit date:25th,Feb.2010.

Available Product

Name:Echinacea Extract
Serie No:S-009.
Specifications:Polyphenols 4%UV;Chicoric Acid 2.0% HPLC;4:1TLC
INCI Name:ECHINACEA PURPUREA ROOT EXTRACT;ECHINACEA PURPUREA EXTRACT
EINECS/ELINCS No.:289-808-4
CAS:90028-20-9
Chem/IUPAC Name:Echinacea Purpurea Root Extract is an extract of the roots of Echinacea purpurea,Compositae.

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