Herbal Coltsfoot(Tussilago farfara) in the Modulation of Inflammatory Response

The immune system formed part of the body's defense plays a critical role in the protection of the body against infectious organisms.

The immune system executes the defense strategy through a series of the immune response by attacking foreign substances that invade body systems.

A variety of factors have been found to trigger immune responses include pathogens, damaged cells, and toxic compounds.

Inflammation is a natural response of the immune system which protects the body against the invasion of pathogens.

In the acute phase of tissue damage or wound, the immune white blood cells of the first line of defense stimulate the production of blood palette to cover the wound or damage and production of pro-inflammatory cytokines to the site of infection against microbial invasion.

Most cases of microbial invasion are stopped in the acute phase of infection, and the damaged tissue is slowly healing itself. However, in this phase, the overproduction of pro-inflammatory cytokines can lead to nearby cell death and the formation of scars.

If the immune system fails to destroy all microbial invasion in the acute phase of infection within a set period in 3 to weeks, it will compromise, leading to chronic low-grade inflammation.

The continued production of low levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines overtimes regardless of the causes can induce damage to organ tissues, and irreversible chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and cancer.

The Research Center for Molecular Medicine of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (Ce-M-M) wrote, "Humans have evolved highly complex immune systems that are composed of specialized immune cells that protect the host from infection and damage. But an uncontrolled immune response such as chronic inflammation can itself inflict damage".


And, "when the immune system is compromised by a genetic mutation, individuals become more susceptible to diseases such as autoimmune disease".

Coltsfoot(Tussilago farfara) is a perennial herbaceous plant, genus Tussilago, belonging to the family Asteraceae, native to Europe and Asia. The herb has been used over thousands of years to treat asthma, various coughs, bronchial congestion, respiratory disorders, headaches and obstruction in the nasal passage, etc.

On finding a potential compound for the treatment of asthma and bronchitis, researchers examined the coltsfoot inhibitory effects on lipopolysaccharide-induced inflammation in macrophages.

In a cecal ligation and puncture (CLP)-induced mouse model of sepsis, Tussilagone suppressed the parameters associated with the production of pro-inflammation such as nitric oxide and prostaglandin E2, and the inflammatory cytokines, tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), particularly in lipopolysaccharide-stimulated RAW 264.7 cells and peritoneal macrophages.

In other words, Tussilago inhibits the production of inflammatory mediators and cytokines by suppressing the immune response associated with the first line of defense.

Additionally, the administration of Tussilagone at doses of 1 mg/kg and 10 mg/kg) protects the lung cells by decreasing the mortality and lung injury in CLP-activated septic mice.

Based on the findings, researchers said, " Tussilago exhibited protective effects against inflammation and polymicrobial sepsis by suppressing inflammatory mediators possibly via the inhibition of NF-κB activation and the MAP kinase pathway".

And, " These results suggest the possible use of Tussilago for developing novel therapeutic modalities for sepsis and other inflammatory diseases".

Taken altogether, coltsfoot may be considered a remedy for the treatment of inflammatory diseases associated with immune-inflammatory responses, pending to the confirmation of the larger sample size and multicenter human study.

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Author Biography
Kyle J. Norton (Scholar, Master of Nutrition, All right reserved)
Health article writer and researcher; Over 10.000 articles and research papers have been written and published online, including worldwide health, ezine articles, article base, health blogs, self-growth, best before it's news, the karate GB daily, etc.,.
Named TOP 50 MEDICAL ESSAYS FOR ARTISTS & AUTHORS TO READ by Disilgold.com Named 50 of the best health Tweeters Canada - Huffington Post
Nominated for shorty award over last 4 years
Some articles have been used as references in medical research, such as international journal Pharma and Bioscience, ISSN 0975-6299.

Sources
(1) Tussilagone Inhibits the Inflammatory Response and Improves Survival in CLP-Induced Septic Mice by Kim YK1, Yeo MG2, Oh BK3, Kim HY4, Yang HJ5, Cho SS6, Gil M7, Lee KJ. (PubMed)