Horehound

Marrubium vulgare

Other Names : Marrubium vulgare, hoarhound, white horehound, Witte Malrove, Malrove, Gewöhnlicher Andorn, Marrube blanc. A different genus, the black horehound (Ballota nigra), is a fetid-odored perennial native to the Mediterranean area that sometimes is used as an adulterant of white horehound.
Horehound is native to Europe and Asia and has been naturalized to other areas, including the US. It is a perennial, aromatic herb of the mint family. The plant has oval leaves covered with white, woolly hairs, and bears small, white flowers.
See also : Bitters

Special Precautions of Horehound

Large doses may induce cardiac irregularities.

Health Benefits and uses of Horehound are

Horehound has been used as a vasodilator, diaphoretic, diuretic, and treatment for intestinal parasites. Initial animal studies indicate that horehound may have hypoglycemic effects and may influence bile secretion. The volatile oil of horehound has been reported to have expectorant and vasodilatory effects. Evidence is limited on these medicinal uses.

• The leaves and flower tops of the horehound have long been used in home remedies as a bitter tonic for the common cold. Horehound has been used traditionally as an expectorant and continues to find a place in cough lozenges and cold preparations.
• It now is used primarily as flavorings in liqueurs, candies and cough drops.
• In addition, extracts of the plant were used for the treatment of intestinal parasites and as a diaphoretic and diuretic.
• Colon cancer : In the investigation of Marubium vulgare (horehound) and Prunus serotina (wild cherry) extracts and theirs anti-inflammatory and exhibition of anti-proliferative activity in human colorectal cancer cells found that Both horehound and wild cherry extracts cause suppression of cell growth as well as induction of apoptosis.
• Antibacterial, antifungal and cytotoxic properties : in the study of antimicrobial activity of aerial parts of M. vulgare L. essential oil against different pathogenic microorganisms and the cytotoxic activity against HeLa cell lines, found that that the M. vulgare essential oil has a potent antimicrobial activity against some Gram (+) pathogenic bacteria and Botrytis cinerea fungi.
• one of the primary active compounds : Marrubiin, found in horehound, possesses "antidiabetic, anti-atherogenic and anti-inflammatory properties.
• Antioxidant properties
• Gastroprotective activity : In the evaluation of assess the gastroprotective properties of the methanol extract and the diterpene marrubiin obtained from the leaves of M. vulgare found that there was also a significant increase in pH and mucus production in the groups treated with M. vulgare extract and marubiin.
• Antihepatotoxic activity : In the evaluation of The whole plant of Marrubium vulgare L. and its p-menthane-5,6-dihydroxy-3-carboxylic acid and theirs antihepatotoxic activity found that The compound (1) also exhibited a significant antihepatotoxic activity.
• Antispasmodic effects : In the assessment of a chloroform extract obtained from M. globosum aerial parts and testing for its effect on reducing pain and smoothing muscle spasms found that among 12 isolated labdane diterpenoids, four new compounds, named 13-epicyllenin A (4), 13,15-diepicyllenin A (5), marrulibacetal (9), and marrulactone.
• Antimicrobial activity
• Cytotoxicity and immunomodulating characteristics
• Antioedematogenic effect
• Cardiovascular diseases : In the elucidation of the beneficial properties of aqueous extracts of Marrubium vulgare (AEM) and its effect on cardiovascular disease found that that M. vulgare provides a source of natural antioxidants, which inhibit LDL oxidation and enhance reverse cholesterol transport and thus can prevent cardiovascular diseases development.
• Analgesic potential : In the investigation of Marrubiin, a furane labdane diterpene in Marrubium vulgare and its analgesic potential found that Marrubiinic acid showed better activity and excellent yield, and its analgesic effect was confirmed in other experimental models of pain in mice, suggesting its possible use as a model to obtain new and potent analgesic agents.
• Antioedematogenic effect : In the evaluation of the antioedematogenic profile of marrubiin, the main constituent of Marrubium vulgare and its antioedematogenic effect found that Compound was analyzed in a model of microvascular leakage in mice ears. The results show that it exhibits significant and dose-related antioedematogenic effects.

Main Combinations

Deep Cough : Eucalyptus globulus + Horehound

References

• Horehound. Review of Natural Products. factsandcomparisons4.0. 2005. Available from Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. Accessed April 17, 2007.
• Zarai Zeid; et al. (2011). "The in-vitro evaluation of antibacterial, antifungal and cytotoxic properties of Marrubium vulgare L. essential oil grown in Tunisia". Lipids in Health and Disease. 10: 161. doi:10.1186/1476-511X-10-161. PMC 3196909Freely accessible. PMID 21936887.
• N. Mnonopi; R.-A. Levendal; N. Mzilikazi; C. L. Frost (2012). "Marrubiin, a constituent of Leonotis leonurus, alleviates diabetic symptoms". Phytomedicine. 19 (6): 488–493. doi:10.1016/j.phymed.2011.12.008. PMID 22326550.
• Anti-proliferative effect of horehound leaf and wild cherry bark extracts on human colorectal cancer cells. Yamaguchi K1, Liggett JL, Kim NC, Baek SJ. PMID 16328068
• PMID 21936887
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