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Feverfew

1/30/02 Feverfew - Healthwell Notes Historical or traditional use (may or may not be supported by scientific studies): Feverfew was mentioned in Greek medical literature as a remedy for inflammation and for menstrual discomforts. Traditional herbalists in Great Britain used it to treat fevers, arthritis, and other aches and pains Active constituents: Feverfew contains a range of compounds known as sesquiterpene lactones. Over 85% of these are a compound called parthenolide. Parthenolide helps prevent excessive clumping of platelets and inhibits the release of certain chemicals, including serotonin and some inflammatory mediators
1/30/02 Iherb Source of Feverfew
7/20/02 Herbal extracts help fight cancer Nakshatri and his colleagues grew cancer cells in the presence of parthenolide and a commonly used anti-cancer drug, paclitaxel or Taxol, which inhibits cell division. They found that without NF-?B, the cells were much more susceptible to paclitaxel. In fact, the researchers killed off the cancer cells using lower doses of paclitaxel that did not have harmful effects on normal cells. Nakshatri conclude that other medicinal plants might also be used in tandem with chemotherapies where tumours are rich in NF-?B. They suggest that extracts of Barberry (Berberis), Coptis (Coptis chinensis) and Gravel root (Eupatorium purpureum), all of which have anti-inflammatory properties similar to those of parthenolide, may be worth investigating.
4/20/02 Augmentation of apoptosis responses in p53-deficient L1210 cells by compounds directed at blocking NFkappaB activation Anticancer Res 2001 Nov-Dec;21(6A):3807-11 PMID: 11911251 Parthenolide, at IC50 concentrations, caused a G0/G1 cell cycle block in the WT and Y8 cells but at higher concentrations caused a G2/M block in the Y8 cells. The combinations of leflunomide and roscovitine or parthenolide and roscovitine did not alter, in a significant way the cell cycle distribution of the Y8 cells. However, in the presence of the combinations of leflunomide and roscovitine or parthenolide and roscovitine there were large increases in the fraction of Y8 cells undergoing early apoptosis without a corresponding increase in the necrotic fraction of cells. These data show that combinations of agents directed at different pathways or different steps of pathways involved in apoptosis can cause the cells to reach an apoptotic threshold that results in synergistic apoptosis
4/20/02 Enhancement of 1 alpha,25-dihydroxyvitamin D(3)-induced differentiation of human leukaemia HL-60 cells into monocytes by parthenolide via inhibition of NF-kappa B activity. Br J Pharmacol 2002 Mar;135(5):1235-44 PMID: 11877332 Transcription factors such as NF-kappa B provide powerful targets for drugs to use in the treatment of cancer. In this report parthenolide (PT), a sesquiterpene lactone of herbal remedies such as feverfew (Tanacetum parthenium) with NF-kappa B inhibitory activity, markedly increased the degree of human leukaemia HL-60 cell differentiation when simultaneously combined with 5 nM 1 alpha,25-dihydroxyvitamin D(3)
4/20/02 Parthenolide inhibits activation of signal transducers and activators of transcription (STATs) induced by cytokines of the IL-6 family Biochem Biophys Res Commun 2000 Jan 7;267(1):329-33 PMID: 10623619 Progression of inflammatory processes correlates with the release of cell-derived mediators from the local site of inflammation. These mediators, including cytokines of the IL-1 and IL-6 families, act on host cells and exert their action by activating their signal transduction pathways leading to specific target gene activation. Parthenolide, a sesquiterpene lactone found in many medical plants, is an inhibitor of IL-1-type cytokine signaling that blocks the activation of NF-kappaB. Here we show that parthenolide is also an effective inhibitor of IL-6-type cytokines

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