Medical effects of Cannabimimetic found in Echinacea purpurea: A Systematic Review of the Literature
Shiuli Roy
Co-Presenters: Chiamaka Emelumba
College: The Dorothy and George Hennings College of Science, Mathematics and Technology
Major: Biology
Faculty Research Mentor: Rana Zeine
Abstract:
Medical effects of Cannabimimetic found in Echinacea purpurea: A Systematic Review of the LiteratureBackground: Recent studies have begun investigating biochemical compounds extracted from Echinacea purpurea plants, commonly known as purple coneflower. The purpose of this study is to review the literature to-date regarding the nature of these compounds, and their cannabimimetic effects.Methods: A literature search was conducted through PubMed, EBSCO Host and ProQuest electronic databases. The text words "Echinacea purpurea", “E. purpurea extract”, “cannabimimetic”, with the Boolean operator “AND” "medical", "medicinal", “neurology”, “pain”, "cardio-respiratory", “Obstetrics”, “oncology”, “gastroenterology”, “dermatology”, “immunology”, “healing”, were used to identify studies on medical effects of the cannabimimetic compounds known to be present in the plant Echinacea purpurea.Inclusion criteria were 1) must be a scholarly or peer-reviewed source, 2) a relevant article published between the years 2000 to 2024, 3) articles available in the English language. Exclusion criteria were the following: 1) publications potentially used for marketing purposes, 2) articles earlier than 2000, and 3) articles not available in English.Results: A total of thirty-seven articles were retrieved. Of those, 3 were review articles, 22 were experimental observational studies, and 12 were clinical trials. Medicinal effects were observed with the use of E. purpurea plant extract as well as purified cannabimimetic compounds in various organ systems.Conclusion: E. purpurea is a source of molecules with potentially promising medical benefits. Further studies are warranted to investigate the physiological and pharmacological effects of these cannabimimetic compounds individually and in combinations on the immune system, skin, brain, liver, pancreas, heart, lungs in health and disease. Because cannabimimetic have less adverse effects than cannabis, they offer greater safety while mimicking the benefits of medical cannabis.