Echinacea as a potential force against coronavirus infections?

Introduction Echinacea purpurea has been shown to broadly inhibit coronaviruses and SARS-CoV-2 in vitro [1].

Aim To assess the available clinical evidence for Echinacea preparations in the infection prevention against coronaviruses.

Method In a systematic literature search on MEDLINE and EMBASE articles were selected for clinical trials with Echinacea studying RT-PCR-confirmed viral respiratory tract infections in humans.

Results Jawad collected nasopharyngeal swabs from N=755 adults over 4 months of prevention. Overall, 24 and 47 enveloped virus infections occurred, including 21 and 33 coronavirus detections [229E; HKU1; OC43] with Echinaforce^®​ (2400 mg/d) and placebo, respectively (p=0.0114) [2].

Ogal administered Echinaforce^®​ extract (1’200 mg) or control for 4 months to N=203 children (4–12 years). The incidence of enveloped virus infections was reduced from 47 to 29 (p=0.0038). Viral loads in nasal secretions were significantly diminished by 98.5%, with Ct-values 31.1 [95%CI 26.3;35.9] versus 25.0 [95%CI 20.5;29.5] (p=0.0479) ([Fig. 1]) [3].

Fig. 1 Preventive treatment of children with Echinaforce^®​ extract reduced nasopharyngeal coronavirus concentrations significantly by 98.5% (p=0.0479).

Kolev applied Echinaforce^®​ extract (2’400 mg/d) vs. no treatment over 5 months to N=120 adults and reported 10 vs. 20 coronavirus infections (p=0.046) of which 5 vs. 14 samples tested SARS-CoV-2 positive (p=0.03) [4].

Conclusion Echinacea’s broad antiviral spectrum was confirmed in clinical trials suggesting its potential for prevention of infections by respiratory pathogens, including coronavirus and SARS-CoV-2.

• References

• 1 Signer J. et al. Virol J 2020; 17: 136
• 2 Jawad M. et al. Evid Based Complement Alternat Med 2012; 2012: 841315
• 3 Ogal M et al.. Eur J Med Res 2021; 26 33
• 4 Kolev E et al.. medRxiv 2021.12.10.21267582

Publication History

Article published online:
13 June 2022