Barrett B
Department of Family Medicine, University of Wisconsin Medical School, Madison WI 53715, USA.
Phytomedicine. 2003 Jan;10(1):66-86. doi: 10.1078/094471103321648692.
Preparations from Echinacea purpurea are among the most widely used herbal medicines. Most uses of E. purpurea are based on the reported immunological properties. A series of experiments have demonstrated that E. purpurea extracts do indeed demonstrate significant immunomodulatory activities. Among the many pharmacological properties reported, macrophage activation has been demonstrated most convincingly. Phagocytotic indices and macrophage-derived cytokine concentrations have been shown to be Echinacea-responsive in a variety of assays. Activation of polymorphonuclear leukocytes and natural killer cells has also been reasonably demonstrated. Changes in the numbers and activities of T- and B-cell leukocytes have been reported, but are less certain. Despite this cellular evidence of immunostimulation, pathways leading to enhanced resistance to infectious disease have not been described adequately. Several dozen human experiments--including a number of blind randomized trials--have reported health benefits. The most robust data come from trials testing E. purpurea extracts in the treatment for acute upper respiratory infection. Although suggestive of modest benefit, these trials are limited both in size and in methodological quality. Hence, while there is a great deal of moderately good-quality scientific data regarding E. purpurea, effectiveness in treating illness or in enhancing human health has not yet been proven beyond a reasonable doubt.
紫锥菊制剂是使用最广泛的草药之一。紫锥菊的大多数用途基于其免疫特性的报道。一系列实验表明，紫锥菊提取物确实具有显著的免疫调节活性。在众多报道的药理特性中，巨噬细胞激活得到了最令人信服的证明。在各种试验中，吞噬指数和巨噬细胞衍生的细胞因子浓度已显示对紫锥菊有反应。多形核白细胞和自然杀伤细胞的激活也得到了合理证明。有报道称T细胞和B细胞白细胞的数量和活性发生了变化，但不太确定。尽管有这种免疫刺激的细胞证据，但尚未充分描述导致对传染病抵抗力增强的途径。几十项人体实验——包括一些双盲随机试验——都报告了健康益处。最有力的数据来自测试紫锥菊提取物治疗急性上呼吸道感染的试验。尽管提示有一定益处，但这些试验在规模和方法质量上都有限。因此，虽然有大量关于紫锥菊的质量中等的科学数据，但在治疗疾病或增强人类健康方面的有效性尚未得到无可置疑的证明。
