Inflammation and Native American medicine: the role of botanicals

There is a growing interest in medicinal botanicals as part of complementar y medicine in the United States. In particular, both physicians and consume rs are becoming aware of the use of herbals by Native American societies; m any botanicals sold today as dietary supplements in the United States were used by Native Americans for similar purposes. Yet, these supplements repre sent only a small number of the >2500 different plant species from vascular taxa, and >2800 species from all taxa, known to have been prized for their medicinal properties by the indigenous inhabitants of the North American c ontinent. We review some of the studies of the immunomodulatory activities of botanicals used by native peoples of North America, the bioactive consti tuents responsible for those activities, and the mechanisms by which these constituents might modulate the immune system. We focus particularly on 3 s pecies of purple coneflower (Echinacea) because of the widespread use of pu rple coneflower in the United States to boost immunity and prevent upper re spiratory infections. Seven of the 10 most common botanicals sold in the Un ited States were used extensively by Native Americans. However, there are v ery few data to support such use and even less information about drug toxic ity Or interactions.