Tinkturenpresse

Eupatorium perfoliatum L. - Asteraceae - (common) boneset, thoroughwort, Durchwachsener Wasserdost, Indianischer Wasserdost

Perennial herb, up to 1m tall, native to eastern North America; flower-heads in corymbiform arrays, white to pink.
http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=242416531

„The common name boneset apparently derives from the plant's historical use in treating dengue fever (which is also known as breakbone).“
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eupatorium_perfoliatum

„The herb was traditionally used as a tonic to treat fever (probably influenza) and rheumatism; it is still umainly employed in case of cold and flu, acute bronchitis and congestionof the nose and throat.“
[Medicinal Plants of the World. Ben-Erik Van Wyk and Michael Wink, Pretoria 2004, 140]

„53 outpatients suffering from common cold (flu) were randomly assigned to either a therapy with acetylsalicylic acid (ASA) or the homeopathic drug Eupatorium perfoliatum D2 in a controlled clinical trial. The efficacy of the drugs was assessed on day 1, 4 and 10 of the infection by symptom check lists and physical examinations. Neither subjective complaints nor body temperature or laboratory findings showed any significant differences between groups which was taken as evidence that both drugs were equally effective.“
[A controlled clinical trial for testing the efficacy of the homeopathic drug eupatorium perfoliatum D2 inthe treatment of common cold (author's transl), Gassinger, C.A., Wünstel, G., Netter, P., Arzneimittel-Forschung, Vol.31(4), 1980, 732-736]

„From the alkaline aqueous extract of the herbal part of Eupatorium cannabinum and Eupatorium perfoliatum two homogeneous polysaccharides (PI and PII) have been isolated by ethanol precipitation and fractionation on DEAE Sepharose CL-6B and Sephacryl S-400 columns… The polysaccharides show a phagocytosis enhancing effect as determined in three immunological test systems (carbon clearance, granulocyte- and chemiluminescence test).“
[Immunologically active polysaccharides of Eupatorium cannabinum and Eupatorium perfoliatum., Vollmar, A., Schäfer, W., Wagner, H., Phytochemistry, Vol.25(2), 1986, 377-381]

„… herbalists drink the tea to break cold or flu, and curb the aches and pain… has a diaphoretic effect, emetic and aperient in large doses.“
[CRC Handbook of Medicinal Herbs, Duke, James A., 1990, 187]

„Eupatorium perfoliatum L. has been used traditionally for the treatment of fever, malaria and inflammation-associated diseases. Nowadays it is mostly used as immune activating remedy… No stimulatory activity was found within lymphocyte transformation test, for phagocytic activity and NO formation in macrophages. MeOH-, EtOH- and DCM extracts showed anti-inflammatory activity against LPS-stimulated macrophages by inhibition of NO release (IC50 > 100, 89, 19 μg/mL resp.) with eupafolin and a dimeric guaianolide having prominent NO inhibiting activity (IC50 6 resp. 16 μM). Anti-inflammatory activity was found on gene and protein level by significant down-regulation of cytokines CSF-3, IL-1α, IL-1β, and chemokines CCL2, CCL22 and CXCL10. Also TNF was down-regulated moderately (−17%)… Although the postulated immunostimulating properties of E. perfoliatum have not been confirmed, the anti-inflammatory effects can be seen as a verification of the traditional use against inflammatory diseases.“
[Anti-inflammatory activity of Eupatorium perfoliatum L. extracts, eupafolin, and dimeric guaianolide via iNOS inhibitory activity and modulation of inflammation-related cytokines and chemokines., Maas, M., Deters, A.M., Hensel, A., Journal of ethnopharmacology, Vol.137(1), 2011, 371-381]

„While the postulated immunostimulating properties of Eupatorium perfoliatum have not been confirmed by in vitro data, animal-studies and in vitro experiments with plant extracts both indicate antiinflammatory effects beside antiplasmodial effect against Plasmodium falciparum. Such an antiinflammation caused by the ethanolic extracts can be correlated well with clinical symptoms related to diseases as common cold, rheumatism, athritis etc. These data also support the plausibility of the plant's traditional use by the North American indigenous population and early European settlers.“
[Eupatorium perfoliatum L.: phytochemistry, traditional use and current applications., Hensel, A., Maas, M., Sendker, J., Lechtenberg, M., Petereit, F., Deters, A., Stark, T., Journal of ethnopharmacology, Vol.138(3), 2011, 641-651]

Bigelow, J., American medical botany, vol. 1: t. 2 (1817) [J. Bigelow]
http://plantgenera.org/species.php?id_species=419235