Tussilago farfara. Coltsfoot, Farfara,
Coughwort Family: Asteraceae
The name "tussilago" is derived from the Latin tussis, meaning cough,
and ago, meaning to cast or to act on. PART USED: Leaves. Flowers.
TASTE: Mucilaginous, slightly bitter and astringent ODOR: Slight
ACTIONS GROUP: Herbs for the lower respiratory tract 1. Anticatarrhal.[1,3] 2. Demulcent.[1,2,3] 3. Expectorant.[1,2,3] 4. Antitussive.[1,3]
5. Bechic. INDICATIONS
1. Laryngitis.[1,2,3]Bronchitis.[1,2,3]
Asthma.[1,2,3]Coughs. Colds and catarrh. Hoarseness. Tracheitis. Whooping cough.[3]
Pneumonia. Pleurisy. Tuberculosis. Pertussis.[1]
Irritating or spasmodic cough.[3]
2. Varicose veins. Hemorrhoids.
3. Swellings and inflammations.
4. Stomach disorders.
5. Debility.
6. Fevers. SPECIFIC INDICATIONS: Chronic spasmodic bronchial cough.[1] COMBINATIONS
- Irritating cough, use with White Horehound and
Mullein PREPARATIONS 3X
/day Leaves
Dried leaves 0.6-2 g.[1]
Decoction[1] (S) 12-40 ml.
Fluid extract 1:1 in 25% alcohol 0.6-2 ml.[1]
2-4 ml.[3]
Solid extract 0.3-0.6 g.[3]
Tincture 1:5 in 45% alcohol 2-8 ml.[2]
Liquid extract 1:4 in syrup 2-8 ml.[1] Flowers
Liquid Extract (BPC1934) 0.6-2 ml.[3] 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. DESCRIPTION A common herb with large broad hoof shaped leaves with felted
hairs on the under side. Grows in damp places with flowers appearing in early
spring, before the leaves. References
[1] British Herbal Pharmacopoeia 1983 Published by the British Herbal Medicine
Association ISBN 0 903032 07 4.
[2] Herbal Materia Medica Course Notes For Diploma of Naturopathy and Diploma
of Herbalism Students by Lydia Mottram.
[3] Potter's New Cyclopaedia of Botanical Drugs and Preparations R.C.
Wren Revised by Elizabeth M. Williamson and Fred J Evans. First published in
Great Britain in 1988 and reprinted in 1989 and 1994 by the C. W. Daniel Company
Limited. 1 Church Path, Saffron Walden Essex. Published 1988 Printed and bound
by Biddles, Guildford ISBN 085207 1973. Images
1.
en.wikipedia.org by Bogdan
CC BY-SA 3.0
2. en.wikipedia.org
by Andreas Trepte CC BY-SA 2.5
Flavonoids- rutin, hyperoside and isoquercetin.[3]
Mucilage- about 8% consisting of polysaccharides based on galactose, fructose,
arabinose and xylose.[1,2,3,4] Inulin.[1,2,3,4]
Faradiol, rutin, hyperin, triterpenoid saponins, tannin, taraxanthin.[15]
Pyrrolizidine alkaloids: senkerkine and tussilagine in very small amounts 0.015%.[6,7]
Tannin.[8] Saponins. Resin. Research
suggests that the polysaccharides are antiinflammatory and immunostimulating
as well as deculcent. The flavonoids also have antiinflammatory and antispasmodic
action.
The tumorigenic pyrrolizidine alkaloids: Senecionine and senkirkine, present
in coltsfoot, have the highest mutagenetic activity of any pyrrolozidine alkaloid,
tested using Drosophila melanogaster to produce a comparative genotoxicity test.
There are documented cases of coltsfoot tea causing severe liver problems in
an infant, and in another case, an infant developed liver disease and died because
the mother drank tea containing coltsfoot during her pregnancy. In response
the German government banned the sale of coltsfoot. Clonal plants of colstfoot
free of pyrrolizidine alkaloids were then developed in Austria and Germany.[9]
This has resulted in the development of the registered variety Tussilago farfara
'Wien' which has no detectable levels of these alkaloids.[10]
Research ahs shown that the polysaccharides are antiinflammatory and imunostimulating,[5,11]
as well as demulcent, and the flavonoids also have antiinflammatory and antispasmodic
action.[12]
The pyrrolizidine alkaloids have caused hepatotoxicity in rats fed daily on
high doses, but not on daily low dose regimes.[13]
They have been shown not to cause any damage to human chromosomes in vitro.[14] References
[1] British Herbal Pharmacopoeia 1983 Published by the British Herbal Medicine
Association ISBN 0 903032 07 4.
[2] Herbal Materia Medica Course Notes For Diploma of Naturopathy and Diploma
of Herbalism Students by Lydia Mottram.
[3] Plant Drug Analysis, Ed. H. Wagner et al. Pub. Springer- Velag
(1984).
[4] Didry, N. et al. (1982) Ann. Pharm. Fr. 40 (1), 75
[5] Engalycheva, E. I. et al. (1982) Farmatsiya 31 (2), 37
[6] Hirono, I. et al. (1979) J. Natl. Canc. Inst. 63 (2), 469
[7] Roder, E. et al. (1981) Plant Med. 43, 99
[8] Potter's New Cyclopaedia of Botanical Drugs and Preparations R.C.
Wren Revised by Elizabeth M. Williamson and Fred J Evans. First published in
Great Britain in 1988 and reprinted in 1989 and 1994 by the C. W. Daniel Company
Limited. 1 Church Path, Saffron Walden Essex. Published 1988 Printed and bound
by Biddles, Guildford ISBN 085207 1973.
[9] Wawrosch, Ch.; Kopp, B.; Wiederfield, H.; "Permanent monitoring of
pyrrolizidine alkaloid content in micropropagated Tussilago farfara L. : A tool
to fulfill statutory demands for the quality of coltsfoot in Austria and Germany",
Acta horticulturae, 2000, no. 530, pp469-472
[10] Wawrosh C.,"In Vitro Cultivation of Medicinal Plants" cited in
Yaniv Z. and Bachrach U., Eds "Handbook of Medicinal Plants", The
Hawthorne Medical Press NY Lond. 2005
[11] Wagner, H. in "Economic and Medicinal Plant Research Vol. 1"
Pub. Academic Press. (1985) UK
[12] "Plant Flavonoids in Biology and Medicine", Pub. Alan R. Liss
Inc. (1986)
[13] Hirono, I. et al. L(1976) Gann 67 (1), 125
[14] Kraus, C. et al. (1985) Planta Med. 51 (2) 89
[15] Chinese Herbal Medicine Materia Medica- Dan Bensky and Andrew Gamble- Eastland
Press 1986 Seattle Washington ISBN 0-939616-15-7
High dosages of Coltsfoot flower can lead to syncope and apnea. In mice the oral
LD50 is 112g/kg of raw ber, and of alcohol extraction gien intravenously, it is
43 g/kg of raw herb.[1] References
[1] Chinese Herbal Medicine Materia Medica- Dan Bensky and Andrew Gamble- Eastland
Press 1986 Seattle Washington ISBN 0-939616-15-7
Research. Carcinogenic activity of coltsfoot, Tussilago farfara
Hirono I, Mori H, Culvenor CC. Abstract
The carcinogenicity of young, pre-blooming flowers of coltsfoot, Tussilago farfara
L., which is a herb of the tribe Senecioneae, family Compositae, and widely used
as a herbal remedy, was studied in inbred strain ACI rats. Rats were divided into
4 groups: Group I received 32% coltsfoot diet for 4 days, and subsequently 16%
diet until the termination of experiment. Groups II and III respectively received
8% and 4% coltsfoot diet for 600 days. Group IV was fed a normal diet as a control
group. The experiments were terminated 600 days after the start of administration
of coltsfoot diet. All the rats in Group I survived beyond 380 days after the
start of feeding and 8 out of 12 rats developed hemangioendothelial sarcoma in
the liver, whereas only one out of 10 rats developed the tumor in Group II, and
no tumors were observed in Group III. Chemical studies on the dried, young flowers
used in this experiment suggested that the carcinogenicity of coltsfoot is most
probably due to senkirkine, a hepatotoxic pyrrolizidine alkaloid.
PMID: 1269853 Gan. 1976 Feb;67(1):125-9. ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
Tussilago farfara L. augments TRAIL-induced apoptosis through MKK7/JNK
activation by inhibition of MKK7-TIPRL in human hepatocellular carcinoma cells.
Lee HJ, Cho HS, Jun SY, Lee JJ, Yoon JY, Lee JH, Song HH, Choi SH, Kim SY, Saloura
V, Park CG, Kim NS. Abstract
Induction of apoptosis through activation of the TRAIL pathway is considered to
be a promising anticancer strategy due to its ability to selectively induce apoptosis
in cancer cells. However, the ability of cancer cells to acquire TRAIL resistance
has limited the clinical translation of this approach. We previously reported
that the TOR signaling pathway regulator-like (TIPRL) protein contributes to the
resistance to TRAIL-induced apoptosis by inhibiting the MKK7-c-Jun N-terminal
kinase (JNK) pathway via MKK7-TIPRL interaction. In the present study, we identified
Tussilago farfara L. (TF) as a novel TRAIL sensitizer among 500 natural products
using an ELISA system that specifically detects the MKK7-TIPRL interaction, and
we validated candidates by GST-pull down assay. Co-treatment of Huh7 cells with
TF and TRAIL induced apoptosis via inhibition of the MKK7-TIPRL interaction and
an increase in MKK7/JNK phosphorylation. This is the first report to describe
TF as a novel TRAIL sensitizer, unveiling a potentially novel therapeutic strategy
in cancer therapy.
PMID: 24969837 DOI: 10.3892/or.2014.3279
Oncol Rep. 2014 Sep;32(3):1117-23. doi: 10.3892/or.2014.3279. Epub 2014 Jun 23.
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
