School of Life Sciences, Merchiston Campus, Napier University, EH10 5DT, Edinburgh, United Kingdom.
Phytomedicine. 2011 Jul 15;18(10):826-31. doi: 10.1016/j.phymed.2011.05.011.
The herb Echinacea purpurea, also called purple coneflower, is regarded as an immune modulator. This study examined changes in cytokine production in blood samples from 30 volunteers before and during 8-day oral administration with an ethanolic extract of fresh Echinacea purpurea (Echinaforce(®)). Daily blood samples were ex vivo stimulated by LPS/SEB or Zymosan and analysed for a series of cytokines and haematological and metabolic parameters. Treatment reduced the proinflammatory mediators TNF-α and IL-1β by up to 24% (p<0.05) and increased anti-inflammatory IL-10 levels by 13% (p<0.05) in comparison to baseline. This demonstrated a substantial overall anti-inflammatory effect of Echinaforce(®) for the whole group (n=28). Chemokines MCP-1 and IL-8 were upregulated by 15% in samples from subjects treated with Echinaforce(®) (p<0.05). An analysis of a subgroup of volunteers who showed low pre-treatment levels of the cytokines MCP-1, IL-8, IL-10 or IFN-γ (n=8) showed significant stimulation of these factors upon Echinaforce(®) treatment (30-49% increases; p<0.05), whereas the levels in subjects with higher pre-treatment levels remained unaffected. We chose the term "adapted immune-modulation" to describe this observation. Volunteers who reported high stress levels (n=7) and more than 2 colds per year experienced a significant transient increase in IFN-γ upon Echinaforce(®) treatment (>50%). Subjects with low cortisol levels (n=11) showed significant down-regulation of the acute-phase proteins IL1-β, IL-6, IL-12 and TNF-α by Echinaforce(®) (range, 13-25%), while subjects with higher cortisol levels showed no such down-regulation. This is the first ex vivo study to demonstrate adapted immune-modulation by an Echinacea preparation. While Echinaforce(®) did not affect leukocyte counts, we speculate that the underlying therapeutic mechanism is based on differential multi-level modulation of the responses of the different types of leukocytes. Echinaforce(®) thus regulates the production of chemokines and cytokines according to current immune status, such as responsiveness to exogenous stimuli, susceptibility to viral infection and exposure to stress.
紫锥菊（Echinacea purpurea），又称紫锥花，被认为是一种免疫调节剂。本研究在 30 名志愿者口服 8 天新鲜紫锥菊醇提物（Echinaforce®）前后，检测了其血液样本中细胞因子产生的变化。通过 LPS/SEB 或 Zymosan 对每日血样进行离体刺激，并分析一系列细胞因子以及血液学和代谢参数。与基线相比，治疗可使促炎介质 TNF-α和 IL-1β降低 24%（p<0.05），抗炎介质 IL-10 升高 13%（p<0.05）。这表明 Echinaforce®对整个试验组（n=28）具有显著的整体抗炎作用。用 Echinaforce®治疗的样本中，趋化因子 MCP-1 和 IL-8 上调 15%（p<0.05）。对细胞因子 MCP-1、IL-8、IL-10 或 IFN-γ 治疗前水平较低的志愿者亚组（n=8）的分析表明，这些因子在 Echinaforce®治疗后显著受到刺激（增加 30-49%；p<0.05），而治疗前水平较高的志愿者亚组的因子水平则无明显变化。我们选择“适应性免疫调节”来描述这一观察结果。报告压力水平较高（n=7）和每年患感冒超过 2 次的志愿者在服用 Echinaforce®后 IFN-γ 水平显著一过性升高（>50%）。皮质醇水平较低的志愿者（n=11）对 Echinaforce®的急性时相蛋白 IL1-β、IL-6、IL-12 和 TNF-α 呈现显著下调（范围 13-25%），而皮质醇水平较高的志愿者则无此变化。这是首例体外研究，证明了一种紫锥菊制剂的适应性免疫调节作用。虽然 Echinaforce®并未影响白细胞计数，但我们推测其潜在的治疗机制是基于对不同类型白细胞反应的多水平差异调节。Echinaforce®可根据当前免疫状态，如对外源性刺激的反应性、对病毒感染的易感性和应激暴露情况，调节趋化因子和细胞因子的产生。
