ArticleVirology journal2020
In vitro virucidal activity of Echinaforce®, an Echinacea purpurea preparation, against coronaviruses, including common cold coronavirus 229E and SARS-CoV-2.
Article in Virology journal, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 51 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
51 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 89 citations in OpenAlex.
- Prophylaxis for COVID-19: a systematic review.Clinical microbiology and infection : the official publication of the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases · 2021Pooled it
- Investigating the effect of echinacea extraction syrup on the outcomes of lower respiratory infections in patients with COVID-19: a randomized clinical trial study.Virology journal · 2024Trial
- Therapeutic Potential of a Natural Blend ofInternational journal of molecular sciences · 2024Trial
- Echinacea reduces antibiotic usage in children through respiratory tract infection prevention: a randomized, blinded, controlled clinical trial.European journal of medical research · 2021Trial
- Recent advances in functional studies of coronavirus NSP13 helicase and challenges in inhibitor development.Virulence · 2026Review
- Potency ofThe Kobe journal of medical sciences · 2026Article
- Itaconate reduces viral endocytosis by targeting Cys128 of the adaptor-related protein complex 1 gamma 1 subunit in the host, providing a novel target for antiviral drug development.Molecular biomedicine · 2025Article
- Improvement on Ferrous Ion Accumulation and Mitochondrial Dysfunction in the COVID-19 Pseudovirus-Infected Cell Model Simulating the Long COVID Status by Nutritional Strategy.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Critical analysis of Echinacea preparations marketed in Germany.Naunyn-Schmiedeberg's archives of pharmacology · 2025Article
- Combating COVID-19 and its co-infection by Aspergillus tamarii SP73-EGY using in vitro and in silico Studies.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Phytochemistry, Mechanisms, and Preclinical Studies of Echinacea Extracts in Modulating Immune Responses to Bacterial and Viral Infections: A Comprehensive Review.Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Review
- Ethanolic Extract fromPreventive nutrition and food science · 2024Article
- Improvement ofMolecules (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Terpenes and cannabidiol against human corona and influenza viruses-Anti-inflammatory and antiviral in vitro evaluation.Biotechnology reports (Amsterdam, Netherlands) · 2024Article
- Latin American Plants against Microorganisms.Plants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Review
- Promising role of Vitamin D and plant metabolites against COVID-19: Clinical trials review.Heliyon · 2023Review
- Volatile Composition, Antimicrobial Activity, and In Vitro Innate Immunomodulatory Activity ofMolecules (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- ECHOPvir: A Mixture of Echinacea and Hop Extracts Endowed with Cytoprotective, Immunomodulatory and Antiviral Properties.Nutrients · 2023Article
- COVID-19 Therapeutic Potential of Natural Products.International journal of molecular sciences · 2023Review
- Natural Products for the Prevention and Treatment of Common Cold and Viral Respiratory Infections.Pharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Review
Corrections and comments
- Erratum issued
Authors and funding
12 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundCoronaviruses (CoVs) were long thought to only cause mild respiratory and gastrointestinal symptoms in humans but outbreaks of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS)-CoV, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS)-CoV-1, and the recently identified SARS-CoV-2 have cemented their zoonotic potential and their capacity to cause serious morbidity and mortality, with case fatality rates ranging from 4 to 35%. Currently, no specific prophylaxis or treatment is available for CoV infections. Therefore we investigated the virucidal and antiviral potential of Echinacea purpurea (Echinaforce®) against human coronavirus (HCoV) 229E, highly pathogenic MERS- and SARS-CoVs, as well as the newly identified SARS-CoV-2, in vitro.
methodsTo evaluate the antiviral potential of the extract, we pre-treated virus particles and cells and evaluated remaining infectivity by limited dilution. Furthermore, we exposed cells to the extract after infection to further evaluate its potential as a prophylaxis and treatment against coronaviruses. We also determined the protective effect of Echinaforce® in re-constituted nasal epithelium.
resultsIn the current study, we found that HCoV-229E was irreversibly inactivated when exposed to Echinaforce® at 3.2 μg/ml IC
conclusionsThese results show that Echinaforce® is virucidal against HCoV-229E, upon direct contact and in an organotypic cell culture model. Furthermore, MERS-CoV and both SARS-CoV-1 and SARS-CoV-2 were inactivated at similar concentrations of the extract. Therefore we hypothesize that Echinacea purpurea preparations, such as Echinaforce®, could be effective as prophylactic treatment for all CoVs due to their structural similarities.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.