Antifungal and Anti-inflammatory Activity of the Genus Echinacea

Abstract

The antifungal activity and 5-lipoxygenase-inhibiting activity of extracts of five wild and three commercially used taxa of the genus Echinacea were investigated. The near-UV mediated antifungal bioassays included clinically isolated Cryptococcus neoformans, two Candida albicans isolates (D10 and CN1A) with amphotericin B resistance, as well as established and emerging filamentous fungal pathogens (Trichophyton tonsurans, T. mentagrophytes, Microsporum gypseum and Pseudallescheria boydii). Root extracts of the eight Echinacea taxa showed antifungal activity against most of the pathogenic fungi. The inhibition of the 5-lipoxygenase (5-LOX) enzyme of the arachadonic acid pathway was determined by HPLC detection of a direct metabolic product (LTB 4 ) of 5-LOX derived from stimulated rat basophilic cells. Root extracts of the three commercial species of Echinacea (E. purpurea, E. pallida var. angustifolia, E. pallida var. pallida) inhibited the 5-LOX enzyme. E. pallida var. angustifolia was the most potent of the three. The results show that Echinacea spp. have significant antifungal and antiinflammatory activity.Pharmaceutical Biology Downloaded from informahealthcare.com by Emory University on 08/07/15For personal use only.

Isolation and characterization of novel protein with anti-fungal and anti-inflammatory properties from Aloe vera leaf gel

“…Inflammatory responses mediated through induced arachadonic acid metabolism can occur by the lipoxygenase (LOX) pathway, which is responsible for leukotriene (LT) synthesis, or the cyclooxygenase (COX) pathway, which results in the production of various prostaglandins (PG) [30]. Aloe protein exhibited both LOX and COX inhibitory activity which suggests this protein may be clinically useful to reduce LT and PG synthesis in the inflammatory processes.…”

Alkamides: a critical reconsideration of a multifunctional class of unsaturated fatty acid amides

“…UV light-mediated antifungal activity was reported for extracts of some Echinacea species. In this case the combination of high levels of the C 12 tetraene amides 65a/66a together with various polyacetylenes exhibited a very effective phototoxic action against a variety of clinically isolated humanpathogenic fungi (Merali et al 2003). In a more recent study the hypothesis was tested, that alkamides from Echinacea exert antifungal activity by disrupting the fungal cell wall/membrane complex (Cruz et al 2014).…”

Echinacea species (Echinacea angustifolia (DC.) Hell., Echinacea pallida (Nutt.) Nutt., Echinacea purpurea (L.) Moench): a review of their chemistry, pharmacology and clinical properties

“…Anti-candida activity for E. purpurea extracts has also been described previously (Barrett 2003). In contrast, n-hexane extracts of the fresh roots of E. pallida var pallida and E. pallida var angustifolia (identified according to a revised taxonomy after Binns et al 2002a) showed no measurable inhibition of C. albicans, but an amphotericin-B-resistant strain (D10) of C. albicans and Tricophyton mentagrophytes were susceptible to E. pallida var pallida root extract in the presence of UV light (Merali et al 2003).…”

“…Inhibition of 5-lipoxygenase has also been described for extracts of roots of E. purpurea, E. pallida var pallida and E. pallida var angustifolia (identified according to a revised taxonomy after Binns et al 2002a). IC50 (inhibitory concentration) values (g root mL À1 assay volume) were 0.642, 1.08 and 0.444, respectively, and corresponding alkamide concentrations in the root of each species were 0.05%, trace and 0.2%, respectively (Merali et al 2003).…”