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AUSTRALIAN MISTLETOE HAS "PROMISING" EFFECTS
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A study of Australian mistletoe
has found antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and antimicrobial activities which the research team describe as "promising".
Dr Phillip Cheras and colleagues from the Australian Centre for Complementary Medicine Education and Research and the School of Natural and Complementary Medicine at Southern Cross University in Lismore are scientifically evaluating indigenous Australian mistletoes for medicinal properties.
Reporting the results, Dr Cheras said mistletoe is a parasitic plant that has been used as a herbal remedy for centuries.
"Most current research has concentrated on Viscum album. However, there are two families, 72 genera and 1,200 known species, with 15 genera and 81 species being indigenous to Australia."
In this first study six species were collected in Lismore and Brisbane.
All nine mistletoe extracts from these species showed antioxidant potency comparable to trolox (a water-soluble derivative of vitamin E) and had 50% antioxidant activity at a concentration of less than 10 micrograms per ml.
The nine mistletoe extracts demonstrated anti-inflammatory activity comparable to aspirin.
The four Lysiana sp. extracts tested all showed antimicrobial properties similar to thyme against the gram positive organisms S. epidermidis, M. luteus, and S. aureus.
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