Characterization of Antiviral Activities in Echinacea. Root Preparations

Figures & data

Table 1.. Echinacea. samples voucher numbers and codes for extracts.

Echinacea. root samples (UO voucher no.)^a.	Ethanol (55%)	Water (40°C)	Water (80°C)	Ethanol (70%)	Hexane	Ethyl acetate	Aqueous residue
E. purpurea.
(UO no. 010502-18)	SG 1	SG 2	SG 3	SGEPR	SG 4	SG 5	SG 6
E. pallida. var. angustifolia.
(UO no. 010410-12)	SG 7a	SG 8a	SG 9a	SGEARa	SG 10a	SG 11a	SG 12a
E. pallida. var. angustifolia.
(UO no. 020607-01)	SG 7b	SG 8b	SG 9b	SGEARb	SG 10b	SG 11b	SG 12b
E. pallida. var. pallida.
(UO no. 010410-11)	SG 13	SG 14	SG 15	SGEPLR	SG 16	SG 17	SG 18

^a.University of Ottawa voucher number.

Figure 1 Fractionation scheme for Echinacea purpurea. root. Numbers in boxes represent cpe end-point dilutions in antiviral assays. HSV, herpes simplex virus; FV, influenza virus. There were no anti-rhinovirus activities in these fractions.

Table 2.. Phytochemical profiling by HPLC of Echinacea. root extracts.

Plant	Sample	Caftaric	Chlorog.	Caffeic	Cynarin	Cichoric	Echin.	Tet. 8/9
E. purp.. root	SG-1	781	55	27	0	4774	0	0
	SG-2	0	0	7	0	0	0	0
	SG-3	109	0	14	0	23	0	0
	SGEPR	895	61	28	0	4861	0	0
	SG-4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	SG-5	890	42	23	0	4499	0	0
	SG-6	125	5	5	0	210	0	0
E. ang.. root no. 1	SG-7a	20	282	15	238	46	1859	483
	SG-8a	0	0	0	7	9	33	0
	SG-9a	17	35	0	37	28	158	0
	SGEARa	394	0	0	206	42	1804	340
	SG-10a	0	0	0	0	0	0	275
	SG-11a	20	207	14	167	34	298	182
	SG-12a	0	67	0	38	3	1693	5
E. ang.. root no. 2	SG-8b	30	0	0	9	4	39	0
	SGEARb	60	91	4	462	36	2426	342
	SG-10b	0	0	0	0	0	0	396
	SG-11b	33	62	4	358	36	145	9
	SG-12b	32	23	0	70	5	2328	0
E. pall.. root	SG-13	48	3	7	0	32	618	0
	SG-14	83	3	6	6	7	106	0
	SG-15	86	4	7	0	17	431	0
	SGEPAR	51	0	12	0	25	659	0
	SG-16	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	SG-17	61	0	6	0	35	0	0
	SG-18	22	0	0	0	0	561	0

E. purpurea. (E. purp..), E. angustifolia. (E. ang..), E. pallida. (E. pall..). The mean concentrations (µg/ml) of caftaric, chlorogenic (chlorog.), caffeic, and cichoric acids, as well as cynarin, echinacoside (echin.), and tetraene 8/9 (tet. 8/9) are presented. Relative standard deviation of analyses <5%.

Table 3.. Antiviral activities of Echinacea purpurea. root fractions. The concentrations of cichoric acid are presented along with the MIC₁₀₀(µg/ml) against herpes simplex virus (HSV) and influenza virus (FV).

Fraction	Cichoric acid	HSV	FV
SG 1	4774	147.0	73.4
SG 2	0	1.2	2.5
SG 3	23	1.5	2.2
SGEPR	4861	(+/−) 500.0^a.	(+/−) 500.0^a.
SG 4	0	>88.0^b.	>88.0^b.
SG 5	4499	187.0	250.0
SG 6	210	>500.0^b.	>500.0 ^b.

^a.Marginal activity at limit of detection.

^b.Upper limit of detection determined by concentration and solvent.

Table 4.. Antiviral activities of Echinacea pallida. var. angustifolia. and var. pallida. root fractions. SG 7b and SG 9b were not obtained in sufficient quantities to analyze. The concentrations of tetraene 8/9 are presented along with the MIC₁₀₀(µg/ml) against rhinovirus (RV), herpes simplex virus (HSV) and influenza virus (FV).

Fraction	Tetraene 8/9	RV	HSV	FV
SG 7a	483	+/−	+/−	348
Ethanol 55% 40°C
SG 8a	0	–	–	–
Water 40°C
SG 9a	0	–	–	–
Water 80°C
SGEARa	488	62	11	–
Ethanol 70% 40°C
SG 10a	275	69	–	–
Hexane from SGEARa
SG 11a	182	85	15	33.5
Ethyl acetate from SGEARa
SG 12a	5	–	–	–
Aqueous residue from SGEARa
SG 8b	0	–	–	–
Water 40°C
SGEARb	342	60	–	197
Ethanol 70% 40°C
SG 10b	396	65	–	–
Hexane from SGEARb
SG 11b	9	+/−	–	12.7
Ethyl acetate from SGEARb
SG 12b	0	–	–	–
Aqueous residue from SGEARb
E. pallida. var. pallida.	0	–	–	–
(all fractions)

a and b represent different individual plants.

Table 5.. Antiviral photosensitizer analysis. The toxicity ratios of MIC_100(light)/MIC_100(dark) (µg/ml) against herpes simplex virus (HSV) and influenza virus (FV) are presented.

Fraction	HSV	FV
SG 1	3.00	2.60
SG 2	1.00	1.00
SG 3	4.00	2.00
SG 5	1.20	2.00
Green tea	1.00	0.75
Red clover	>8	>8
Hypericin	>100	nt^a.

^a.nt = not tested.