Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Feverfew (Tanacetum Parthenium) Health Benefits and Side Effects


Feverfew is a small bush with scene leaves, genus Tanacetum, belonging to family Asteraceae and native to Euro-Asia. The heral plant has been used in traditional and herbal medicine to treat fever, headaches, migraine headaches, arthritis, stomach aches, toothaches, insect bites, infertility, problems with menstruation and labor during childbirth etc.

Health benefits
1. Migraine headaches
In the evaluation of Feverfew's effectiveness in treating migraine headaches over thousand of year in herbal medicine, research found that sublingual feverfew/ginger appears safe and effective as a first-line abortive treatment for a population of migraineurs who frequently experience mild headache prior to the onset of moderate to severe headache. Feverfew/ginger was generally well tolerated with oral numbness and nausea being the most frequently occurring adverse event, according to "A double-blind placebo-controlled pilot study of sublingual feverfew and ginger (LipiGesic™ M) in the treatment of migraine" by Cady RK, Goldstein J, Nett R, Mitchell R, Beach ME, Browning R.(1)

2. Anti cancers
In the investigation of The medicinal herb feverfew [Tanacetum parthenium (L.) Schultz-Bip.] effectiveness in treating against tumor, and inflammatory properties found that apigenin and luteolin might have moderate to weak synergistic effects with parthenolide on the inhibition of cancer cell growth of Hs605T, MCF-7, and SiHa, according to "Antiproliferative activities of parthenolide and golden feverfew extract against three human cancer cell lines" by Wu C, Chen F, Rushing JW, Wang X, Kim HJ, Huang G, Haley-Zitlin V, He G.(2)

3. Anti-inflammatory activity
In the assessment of a parthenolide-depleted extract of Feverfew (PD-Feverfew) and to determine its effectiveness as an anti-inflammatory agent found that PD-Feverfew extracts have potent anti-inflammatory activity suggesting that this botanical would be efficacious in relieving inflammation without inducing immune sensitization, according to "Anti-inflammatory activity of parthenolide-depleted Feverfew (Tanacetum parthenium)" by Sur R, Martin K, Liebel F, Lyte P, Shapiro S, Southall M.(3)

4. Skin protective agent
In the determination of Feverfew antioxidants and their effect in protecting skin from UV irradiation and external aggression found that through the ability to scavenge free radicals, preserve endogenous antioxidant levels, reduce DNA damage and induce DNA repair enzymes, which can help repair damaged DNA, parthenolide-depleted extract of Feverfew may protect skin from the numerous external aggressions encountered daily by the skin and reduce the damage to oxidatively challenged skin, according to "Parthenolide-depleted Feverfew (Tanacetum parthenium) protects skin from UV irradiation and external aggression" by Martin K, Sur R, Liebel F, Tierney N, Lyte P, Garay M, Oddos T, Anthonavage M, Shapiro S, Southall M.(4)

5. Blood platelet aggregation
In the research of extracts of feverfew and parthenolide and theirs effect on blood platelet aggregation in-vitro found that Both feverfew extract and parthenolide were more effective as inhibitors of the [14C]5-HT secretion and aggregation induced by some agents and not others, and were most effective as inhibitors of the [14C]5-HT secretion (but not the aggregation) induced by PMA. This suggests that the effects of feverfew/parthenolide on the protein kinase C pathway warrants further study, according to "A comparison of the effects of an extract of feverfew and parthenolide, a component of feverfew, on human platelet activity in-vitro" by Groenewegen WA, Heptinstall S.(5)

5. Antiserotonergic activity
In the comparison of the extracts of Tanacetum parthenium (Feverfew) and parthenolide and to determine theirs 5-Hydroxytryptamine-inhibiting activity found that the extract when degraded thermally upto 10% could significantly block the 5-HT receptors and neuronal release of 5-HT, however, on further degradation it lost its inhibitory capacity markedly. Similar results were observed in rats fed orally with undergraded and degraded Feverfew powder and injected i.p. with parthenolide. Feverfew powder was more effective than any of its extracts or pure parthenolide, according to "5-Hydroxytryptamine-inhibiting property of Feverfew: role of parthenolide content" by Mittra S, Datta A, Singh SK, Singh A.(6)

6. Antibacterial activity
In the determination of Feverfew (Tanacetum parthenium L.) (Asteraceae), a medicinal plant traditionally and its essential oil antibacterial effectiveness found that the oil of Ardahan sample showed the highest activity on S. aureus (125 microg/mL) which is likewise two fold concentration of the positive control chloramphenicol (62.5 microg/mL). DPPH scavenging activity was 59.3% of the oil from Davutpasa at 15 mg/mL concentration. When compared to positive control alpha-tocopherol (94.6%) Savşat oil (28.2%) showed low and Davutpasa oil showed medium DPPH scavenging activity. All of the oils showed toxicity to Vibrio fischeri in the TLC-bioluminescence assay, according to "Antibacterial activity and the variation of Tanacetum parthenium (L.) Schultz Bip. essential oils from Turkey" by Polatoglu K, Demirci F, Demirci B, Gören N, Başer KH.(7)

8. Skin cancer
In the evaluation of Parthenolide, an active component of feverfew (Tanacetum parthenium) and it inhibits proliferation and kills various cancer cells found that the melanoma cells from vertical growth phase and melanocytes were less susceptible to parthenolide-induced cell death than metastatic cells when drug concentration was at least 6 mumol/l. Reactive oxygen species level was not significantly increased in melanoma cells. However, preincubation of parthenolide with the thiol nucleophile N-acetyl-cysteine protected melanoma cells from parthenolide-induced cell death suggesting the reaction with intracellular thiols as the mechanism responsible for parthenolide activity. In conclusion, the observed anticancer activity makes parthenolide an attractive drug candidate for further testing in melanoma therapy, according to "Parthenolide, a sesquiterpene lactone from the medical herb feverfew, shows anticancer activity against human melanoma cells in vitro" by Lesiak K, Koprowska K, Zalesna I, Nejc D, Düchler M, Czyz M.(8)

9. Apigenin and luteolin
In the classification of the medicinal herb feverfew [Tanacetum parthenium (L.) Schultz-Bip.] and its parthenolide, a sesquiterpene lactone on anti-migraine, anti-tumor, and anti-inflammatory properties found that feverfew ethanolic extract inhibited the growth of all three types of cancer cells with a half-effective concentration (EC50) of 1.5 mg/mL against Hs605T, 2.1 mg/mL against MCF-7, and 0.6 mg/mL against SiHa as a result of its components apigenin and luteolin, according to "Antiproliferative activities of parthenolide and golden feverfew extract against three human cancer cell lines" by Wu C, Chen F, Rushing JW, Wang X, Kim HJ, Huang G, Haley-Zitlin V, He G.(9)

10. Antioxidants
In the investigation of the constant exposure of the skin to oxidative stress results in damage to cellular DNA and cell membrane lipids and proteins found that soy, feverfew, mushroom extracts, teas, Coffea arabica (CoffeeBerry), Pinus pinaster (Pycnogenol), and Polypodium leucotomos have promising efficacy in the topical treatment of oxidative stress-induced dermatoses, according to "Natural antioxidants" by Berson DS.(10)

11. Colorectal cancer
In the research of Parthenolide, the main components of Feverfew and its apoptosis effect in cancer cells found that Parthenolide rapidly depleted intracellular thiols, including both free glutathione (GSH) and protein thiols. Concomitantly, there were dose- and time-dependent increases in intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) and calcium levels. Increased expression of GRP78 protein, a marker for endoplasmic reticulum stress was also detected. All these changes preceded parthenolide-induced apoptotic cell death, according to "Critical roles of intracellular thiols and calcium in parthenolide-induced apoptosis in human colorectal cancer cells" by Zhang S, Ong CN, Shen HM.(11)

12. Antithrombotic effect
In the investigation of The effects of an extract of the plant feverfew on the interaction of platelets with surfaces coated with human collagens of type III and IV (CIII, CIV), and on the integrity of the endothelial cell (EC) monolayer found that that feverfew may have antithrombotic potential in addition to its claimed benefit in fever, migraine and arthritis, according to "Feverfew--an antithrombotic drug?" by Loesche W, Mazurov AV, Voyno-Yasenetskaya TA, Groenewegen WA, Heptinstall S, Repin VS.(12)

13.
In the demonstration of the inhibitory effect on inflammatory cytokines and matrix metalloproteinase production from stimulated synovial cells derived from rheumatoid arthritis patients found that Parthenolide is one of the main sesquiterpense lactones responsible for the bioactivities of feverfew and recently reported to inhibit NFkappaB activation. Parthenolide has ameliorated the severity of joint destruction in experimental animal model. Based upon these findings, NFkappaB may be one of important therapeutic target for arthritis, according to "[Application of NFkappaB inhibitor for arthritis].[Article in Japanese]" by Tomita T, Kunugiza Y, Nomura K, Morimoto D, Kuroda S, Yoshikawa H.(13)

14. Etc.

Side effects
1. Feverfew may interact with other medicine. If you are taking blood thin medicine, please consult with your doctor, according to "Herbal medicinals: selected clinical considerations focusing on known or potential drug-herb interactions" by Miller LG.(a)
2. Do not take the herb, if you are pregnant or breast feeding with out approval of related field specialist.
3. Over doses can cause abdominal pain, indigestion, gas, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, and nervousness.
4. Feverfew may cause allergic effect to some people with allergies to chamomile, ragweed.
5. Etc.

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