Introduction Echinacea Immunomodulatory Effects

Echinacea, also known as the American coneflower or purple coneflower, enjoys a long history of traditional use by native North Americans for its immunemodulating activity. In recent years Echinacea was introduced to China. The immune-modulating activity of introducing plant of Echinacea was studied by a serial experiments in vitro and in vivo. The result shows: ① Introducing plant of Echinacea could promote the proliferation of T lymphocyte and the production of interleukin-2 and interferon -γ by T lymphocyte. ②It appears that the immune-modulating activity of introducing plant of Echinacea is due to a combination of polysaccharides, alkylamides, and cichoric acid. ③The results showed that the introducing plant of Echinacea could promote the immuno-function of the model mice by improving the index of thymus and spleen, increasing the production of immunoglobulin in peripheral blood and promoting the proliferation of T lymphocyte and the production of cytokine. All the results suggested that the introducing plant of Echinacea possesses potential effect of immune regulation. It would providing new thinking and experiment sustention for its application in China.