Feverfew is used for fever, headaches, prevention of migraines, and menstrual irregularities. It is also used orally for arthritis, psoriasis, allergies, asthma, tinnitus, vertigo, nausea and vomiting. Feverfew is also used for infertility, anemia, cancer, common cold, earache, liver disease, prevention of miscarriage, muscular tension, orthopedic disorders, swollen feet, diarrhea, and dyspepsia including indigestion and gas.
The applicable part of feverfew is the leaf. At least 39 constituents of feverfew have been identified. It used to be believed that the sesquiterpene lactone, parthenolide, is one of the main active constituents.
Laboratory evidence suggests that feverfew extracts might inhibit platelet aggregation and inhibit serotonin release from platelets and leucocytes. Feverfew might also inhibit serum proteases and leukotrienes.
Feverfew also appears to block prostaglandin synthesis by inhibiting phospholipase, which prevents the release of arachidonic acid.
Chrysanthenyl acetate, an essential oil of feverfew, has been suggested as one active component. Chrysanthenyl acetate inhibits prostaglandin synthetase and might have analgesic properties.
Feverfew also contains melatonin. Migraine attacks have been associated with decreased melatonin excretion. Other pharmacological effects include cytostatic effect on tumor cell growth, inhibition of inflammation and pain transmission, and anti-inflammatory effects.
Parthenolide-depleted Feverfew (Tanacetum parthenium) protects skin from UV irradiation and external aggression.
Martin K, Sur R, Liebel F, Tierney N, Lyte P, Garay M, Oddos T, Anthonavage M, Shapiro S, Southall M.
Johnson & Johnson Skin Research Center, CPPW, a unit of Johnson & Johnson Consumer Companies, Inc., Skillman, NJ, USA.
The skin is under continual assault from a variety of damaging environmental factors such as ultraviolet irradiation and atmospheric pollutants, and as organisms age the cumulative damage exceeds the capacity of endogenous antioxidant defenses resulting in chronic inflammation and premature aging. Botanical extracts such as Feverfew containing naturally occurring antioxidants could replenish the depleted cutaneous stores and perhaps forestall these degenerative changes. A parthenolide-depleted extract of Feverfew (PD-Feverfew), which was free of sensitization potential, was found to possess free radical scavenging activity against a wide range of reactive oxygen species and with greater activity than Vitamin C. In vitro, PD-Feverfew restored cigarette smoke-mediated depletion of cellular thiols, attenuated the formation of UV-induced hydrogen peroxide and reduced pro-inflammatory cytokine release. In vivo, topical PD-Feverfew reduced UV-induced epidermal hyperplasia, DNA damage and apoptosis. In a clinical study PD-Feverfew treatment significantly reduced erythema versus placebo 24 h post-UV exposure. Through the ability to scavenge free radicals, preserve endogenous antioxidant levels, reduce DNA damage and induce DNA repair enzymes, which can help repair damaged DNA, parthenolide-depleted extract of Feverfew may protect skin from the numerous external aggressions encountered daily by the skin and reduce the damage to oxidatively challenged skin.
Gene response of human monocytic cells for the detection of antimigraine activity of feverfew extracts.
Chen CF, Leung AY.
Department of Genetics and Biochemistry, Jordan Hall 100, Clemson University, Clemson, SC 29634, USA.
The herb feverfew is a folk remedy for various conditions, including inflammation, fever, psoriasis, rheumatism, and asthma. Like many herbal medicines, feverfew's mechanisms of action in the human body are largely unknown and its active ingredients remain elusive. Very often, different extraction methods of herb material produce different physical and biochemical properties and variation in clinical efficacy. We identified 3 major methods of extraction for feverfew aerial parts and used microarray technology to test the hypothesis that extracts produced by different methods elicit different gene expression profiles. We have identified approximately 200 genes that are consistently regulated by the 2 presumptive active antimigraine feverfew extracts but not associated with the inactive extract. Our results suggest that the presumptive active feverfew extracts potently stimulate more genes in human cells than the inactive extracts. We also identified several genes as unique signatures for these active extracts. All 3 feverfew extracts exhibited similar blockades on lipopolysaccharide-mediated TNF-alpha (tumor necrosis factor alpha) release, implicating that TNF-alpha is not responsible for the differences in the effects of the 3 feverfew extracts in human cells. In contrast, the active extracts more effectively suppressed CCL2 (also known as monocyte chemoattractant protein 1, MCP-1) than the inactive extracts, suggesting that CCL2 is a potential cellular target for feverfew's antimigraine effects.
Efficacy and safety of 6.25 mg t.i.d. feverfew CO2-extract (MIG-99) in migraine prevention--a randomized, double-blind, multicentre, placebo-controlled study.
Diener HC, Pfaffenrath V, Schnitker J, Friede M, Henneicke-von Zepelin HH.
Neurologische Universitätsklinik, Essen, Germany.
The efficacy and tolerability of a CO(2)-extract of feverfew (MIG-99, 6.25 mg t.i.d.) for migraine prevention were investigated in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multicentre, parallel-group study. Patients (N = 170 intention-to-treat; MIG-99, N = 89; placebo, N = 81) suffering from migraine according to International Headache Society criteria were treated for 16 weeks after a 4-week baseline period. The primary endpoint was the average number of migraine attacks per 28 days during the treatment months 2 and 3 compared with baseline. Safety parameters included adverse events, laboratory parameters, vital signs and physical examination. The migraine frequency decreased from 4.76 by 1.9 attacks per month in the MIG-99 group and by 1.3 attacks in the placebo group (P = 0.0456). Logistic regression of responder rates showed an odds ratio of 3.4 in favour of MIG-99 (P = 0.0049). Adverse events possibly related to study medication were 9/107 (8.4%) with MIG-99 and 11/108 (10.2%) with placebo (P = 0.654). MIG-99 is effective and shows a favourable benefit-risk ratio.