Ivy extract triggers the cough

Scientists decode: How ivy extract dissolves the cough

Respiratory infections are the most common cause of sick leave in Germany. According to data from the AOK every fifth incapacity (23.1 percent) goes back to this disease group. Probably the most onerous side effect of acute inflammation of the respiratory tract is the cough. Luckily, plant medicine has always offered effective and well-tolerated aid for its treatment.

The evergreen leaves of ivy (Hedera helix Linnaeus) contain a number of medically active substances. Properly prepared, ivy extracts relax the bronchial muscles, loosen the mucus, facilitate coughing and increase the production of secretions in the upper respiratory tract.

The fact that ivy preparations are effective has been known for some time. However, the actual mechanism of action could only be decoded recently. Prof. Dr. Hanns Häberlein from the Institute of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology of the University of Bonn presented in Munich the results of his latest experiments, in which he examined the mode of action of ivy dry extract on the bronchial musculature (published in Phytomedicine, doi: 10.1016 / j.phymed.2010.05.010 ).

Admittedly, the biochemical relationships identified by the Bonn research group are extremely complicated. Professor Häberlein: „The saponins contained in ivy, in particular the a-hederin, are of particular therapeutic significance. In bronchial smooth muscle cells, a-hederin causes certain (so-called ß2-adrenergic) receptors to remain functional longer and to be optimally activated by the body's own adrenaline. Adrenaline is the most physiologically strong bronchodilator and mediates a reduction in the intracellular calcium concentration, which in bronchitis leads to a relaxation of the cramped bronchial musculature“.

The group has succeeded in demonstrating this effect of the ivy compound a-hederin by means of force measurements on isolated muscle strips from the trachea of ​​cattle. The investigations showed that under the influence of the substance an isometrically measurably improved relaxation of the muscles in the airways occurs. (kfn, 15.12.2010)