Marrubium vulgare.   White horehound   Family: Labiatae        
PART USED: Leaves and flowering tops. Herb
TASTE: Bitter, aromatic   ODOR: Characteristic.
ACTIONS
GROUP: Herbs for the lower respiratory tract
1. Antispasmodic.[1]
2. Expectorant.[1,2,3]
3. Bitter tonic.[3]
4. Antiseptic.[3]
INDICATIONS
1. Bronchitis.[1,2,3] Asthma.[3] Hoarseness. Whooping cough.[1]
2. Anorexia.
3. Liver disorders biliary insufficiency.
4. Wounds.
Other uses  Used as an ingredient of some tonics and has been made into a candy and brewed into ale.[3]
SPECIFIC INDICATIONS: Bronchitis with non-productive cough.[1]
COMBINATIONS
PREPARATIONS  3X /day
Dried herb  1-2 g,[1,3] or by infusion.[1]
Fluid extract  1:1 in 20% alcohol  2-4 ml.[1,3] 1:1 in 25% alcohol.[4]
Concentrated infusion BPC 1934, 2-4 ml.[3]
         
ORIGIN: Grows wild in Europe. Cultivated in Britain.
DESCRIPTION: A downy perennial, grey-green in colour with a quadrangular stem.
Leaves soft, cordate-ovate, bluntly serrate, wrinkles and stalked. Flowers small, white, in dense whorls, the calyx having ten hooked teeth.
References
Inner Path can not take any responsibility for any adverse effects from the use of plants. Always seek advice from a professional before using a plant medicinally.
Constituents
Research
Marrubiin is considered to be responisble for the expectorant activity, and also has been shown to normalize extrasystolic arrhythmias, and when the lactone ring is open the corresponding acid is trongly choleretic.[1] The oil has antimicrobial properties, vasodilatory and hypotensive.[2]
Extracts of Horehound are antiinflammatory in the rat paw edema test and have antiserotonin activity.[3,4]
References
[1] Encyclopedia of Common Natural Ingredients used in Food Drugs and Cosmetics, Albert Y. Leung. Pub. John Wiley & Sons Inc. (1980) NY
[2] Karryev, M. O. et al. (1976) Izv. Akad. Nauk. Turkm. Ser. Biol. 3, 86
[3] Mascolo, M. et al. (1987) Phytother. Res. 1 (1), 28
[4] Cahen, R. (1970) C R Soc. Biol. 164, 1467

Marrubium vulgare ethanolic extract induces proliferation block, apoptosis, and cytoprotective autophagy in cancer cells in vitro.
Paunovic V, Kosic M, Djordjevic S, Zugic A, Djalinac N, Gasic U, Trajkovic V, Harhaji-Trajkovic J.
Abstract
Marrubium vulgare is a European medicinal plant with numerous beneficial effects on human health. The aim of the study was to isolate the plant ethanolic extract (MVE) and to investigate its anti-melanoma and anti-glioma effects. MVE was prepared by the modified pharmacopoeial percolation method and characterized by UHPLC-LTQ OrbiTrap MS. MVE dose-dependently reduced viability of melanoma (B16) and glioma (U251) cells, but not peripheral blood mononuclear cells. It arrested cell cycle in S+G2/M phase, which was associated with the activation of MAP kinase p38 and up-regulation of antiproliferative genes p53, p21 and p27. MVE induced oxidative stress, while antioxidants abrogated its antitumor effect. Furthermore, MVE induced mitochondrial depolarization, activation of caspase-9 and -3, Parp cleavage, phosphatidylserine exposure and DNA fragmentation. The mitochondrial apoptotic pathway was associated with the up-regulation of proapoptotic genes Pten, Bak1, Apaf1, and Puma and down-regulation of antiapoptotic genes survivin and Xiap. MVE also stimulated the expression of autophagy-related genes Atg5, Atg7, Atg12, Beclin-1, Gabarab and Sqstm1, as well as LC3-I conversion to the autophagosome associated LC3-II, while autophagy inhibitors exacerbated its cytotoxicity. Finally, the most abundant phenolic components of MVE, ferulic, p-hydroxybenzoic, caffeic and chlorogenic acids, did not exert a profound effect on viability of tumor cells, suggesting that other components individually or in concert are the mediators of the extracts' cytotoxicity. By demonstrating the ability of MVE to inhibit proliferation, induce apoptosis and cytoprotective autophagy, our results suggest that MVE, alone or combined with autophagy inhibitors, could be a good candidate for anti-melanoma and anti-glioma therapy.
PMID: 27755961 Cell Mol Biol (Noisy-le-grand). 2016 Sep 30;62(11):108-114. ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Analysis of the antinociceptive properties of marrubiin isolated from Marrubium vulgare.
De Jesus RA, Cechinel-Filho V, Oliveira AE, Schlemper V.
Abstract
We have shown previously that Marrubium vulgare, a medicinal plant employed frequently in folk medicine to treat a variety of ailments, exhibits antispasmodic and antinociceptive effects in different experimental models. This work describes the antinociceptive profile of marrubiin, the main constituent of this plant, which was analysed in some models of nociception in mice. The results showed that marrubiin exhibits potent and dose-related antinociceptive effects, whose calculated ID50 values (micromol/kg, i.p.) were the following: 2.2 in the writhing test, 6.6 (first phase) and 6.3 (second phase) in the formalin-induced pain test and 28.8 when evaluated in the capsaicin test. It was more potent than some well-known analgesic drugs. The antinociception produced by the marrubiin was not reversed by naloxone when analyzed against the writhing test. In the hot-plate test, marrubiin did not increase the latency period of pain induced by the thermal stimuli. Its exact mechanism of action remains to be determined, but the results suggest that marrubiin, like hydroalcoholic extract of M. vulgare, does not interact with opioid systems.
PMID: 10839213 DOI: 10.1016/S0944-7113(00)80082-3 Phytomedicine. 2000 Apr;7(2):111-5. ncbi.nlm.nih.gov