Table 5.
Assessmenta of medicinal plants based on peer-reviewed referencesb of the last 20 years aiming the modulation of the immune system and inflammation
| Plant species | Number of references | Type of reference | Immunostimulant | Antiinflammatory | Analgesic | Hypothesis proved | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| + | ? | o | + | ? | o | + | ? | o | + | ? | o | |||
| Achillea millefolium L. | 2 | in vitro | 21 | |||||||||||
| 2 | in vivo + clinical | 12 | 13 | 14 | ||||||||||
| Agrimonia eupatoria L. | 0 | in vitro | ||||||||||||
| 1 | in vivo + clinical | 15 | ||||||||||||
| Allium sativum L. | 4 | in vitro | 16 | 17 | 28 | |||||||||
| 5 | in vivo + clinical | 59 | 110 | |||||||||||
| Camellia sinensis (L). KUNTZE | 14 | in vitro | 311 | 1212 | ||||||||||
| 5 | in vivo + clinical | 213 | 214 | 115 | ||||||||||
| Cetraria islandica (L.) ACH. | 2 | in vitro | 216 | |||||||||||
| 1 | in vivo + clinical | 117 | ||||||||||||
| Echinacea purpurea (L.) MOENCH | 23 | in vitro | 1618 | 119 | 620 | |||||||||
| 13 | in vivo + clinical | 921 | 222 | 123 | 124 | |||||||||
| Foeniculum vulgare (L.) MILL. | 1 | in vitro | 125 | |||||||||||
| 3 | in vivo + clinical | 126 | 327 | |||||||||||
| Glycyrrhiza glabra L. | 6 | in vitro | 428 | 229 | ||||||||||
| 4 | in vivo + clinical | 330 | 131 | 132 | ||||||||||
| Linum usita-tissimum L. | 1 | in vitro | 133 | |||||||||||
| 3 | in vivo + clinical | 134 | 235 | 136 | ||||||||||
| Malva sylvestris L. | 1 | in vitro | 137 | |||||||||||
| 3 | in vivo + clinical | 138 | 239 | 140 | ||||||||||
| Matricaria recutita L. | 5 | in vitro | 141 | 442 | ||||||||||
| 5 | in vivo + clinical | 143 | 144 | 245 | 246 | |||||||||
| Mentha x piperita L. | 0 | in vitro | ||||||||||||
| 1 | in vivo + clinical | 147 | ||||||||||||
| Origanum vulgare L. | 1 | in vitro | 148 | |||||||||||
| 6 | in vivo + clinical | 249 | 350 | 151 | ||||||||||
| Pimpinella anisum L. | 1 | in vitro | 152 | |||||||||||
| 2 | in vivo + clinical | 153 | 154 | |||||||||||
| Plantago lanceolata L. | 3 | in vitro | 355 | |||||||||||
| 0 | in vivo + clinical | |||||||||||||
| Potentilla erecta (L.) RAEUSCH. | 1 | in vitro | 156 | |||||||||||
| 0 | in vivo + clinical | |||||||||||||
| Rubus fruticosus L. | 4 | in vitro | 457 | |||||||||||
| 0 | in vivo + clinical | |||||||||||||
| Rumex ssp. L. | 1 | in vitro | 158 | |||||||||||
| 3 | in vivo + clinical | 259 | 260 | |||||||||||
| Salix ssp. L. | 4 | in vitro | 461 | |||||||||||
| 1 | in vivo + clinical | 162 | ||||||||||||
| Salvia officinalis L. | 0 | in vitro | ||||||||||||
| 7 | in vivo + clinical | 163 | 164 | 165 | 466 | 267 | ||||||||
| Sambucus nigra L. | 2 | in vitro | 168 | 169 | ||||||||||
| 1 | in vivo + clinical | 170 | ||||||||||||
| Thymus vulgaris L. | 5 | in vitro | 571 | |||||||||||
| 4 | in vivo + clinical | 172 | 173 | 274 | ||||||||||
| Tussilago farfara L. | 1 | in vitro | 175 | |||||||||||
| 0 | in vivo + clinical | |||||||||||||
| Urtica dioica L. | 4 | In vitro | 276 | 277 | ||||||||||
| 4 | in vivo + clinical | 378 | 179 | 180 | ||||||||||
| Vaccinium myrtillus L. | 1 | In vitro | 181 | |||||||||||
| 2 | in vivo + clinical | 182 | 283 | |||||||||||
| Sum of plant species for each effect | in vitro | 6 | 3 | 0 | 20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| in vivo + clinical | 9 | 4 | 6 | 13 | 0 | 1 | 12 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||
| Sum of assessments | in vitro | 29 | 3 | 0 | 56 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| in vivo + clinical | 24 | 4 | 7 | 20 | 0 | 1 | 20 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||
aAssessment = conclusion of a reference on a hypothesized effect; breference = trial x plant species x indication; + = reference proves evidently the hypothesized effect; ? = reference shows uncertain hypothesized effect; o = reference does not prove evidently the hypothesized effect
1[328, 329] 2[330] 3[331] 4[331] 5[332] 6[333] 7[334] 8[78, 80] 9[65, 67, 68, 79, 335] 10[79] 11[133, 336, 337] 12[336, 338–348] 13[134, 349] 14[131, 350] 15[351] 16[352, 353] 17[354] 18[99, 100, 355–368] 19[369] 20[102, 370–374] 21[93, 97, 98, 375–380] 22[381, 382] 23[383] 24[384] 25[385] 26[386] 27[386–388] 28[144, 334, 389, 390] 29[391, 392] 30[138, 380, 393] 31[394] 32[394] 33[395] 34[396] 35[397, 398] 36[397] 37[399] 38[400] 39[401, 402] 40[401] 41[403] 42[404–407] 43[408] 44[409] 45[410, 411] 46[410, 412] 47[413] 48[414] 49[415, 416] 50[417–419] 51[420] 52[421] 53[422] 54[423] 55[392, 424, 425] 56[426] 57[427–430] 58[431] 59[432, 433] 60[432, 434] 61[426, 435–437] 62[438] 63[439] 64[440] 65[441] 66[442–445] 67[442, 443] 68[446] 69[430] 70[447] 71[436, 448–450] 72[451] 73[451] 74[417, 452] 75[453] 76[454, 455] 77[456, 457] 78[138, 458, 459] 79[460] 80[460] 81[344] 82[461] 83[461, 462]