EFFECT OF ECHINACEA, ACONITUM, LACHESIS AND APIS EXTRACTS, AND THEIR COMBINATIONS ON PHAGOCYTOSIS OF HUMAN GRANULOCYTES

The influence of Echinacea angustifolia, Aconitum napellus, Lachesis m uta, and Apis mellifica, the contents of the combination product Influ ex (Steigerwald, Germany), on the phagocytosis of human granulocytes w as investigated. Incorporation of latex microspheres was measured with a how cytometric method. With regard to the constituents of the presc ription, only vitamin C, lipopolysaccharide, and Echinacea angustifoli a were able to enhance the phagocytosis rate. Aconitum, Apis and Lache sis, alone were not able to stimulate phagocytosis but showed an enhan cement effect when combined with one another or with Echinacea. For ex ample, a combination of Aconitum (10(-2)) and Lachesis (10(-2)) was ab le to stimulate phagocytosis up to 390%.