High impact information on Echium

• Such "insular woodiness" is strongly manifested in the genus Echium, in which the continental species of circummediterranean distribution are herbaceous, whereas endemic species of islands along the Atlantic coast of north Africa are woody perennial shrubs [1].
• Dietary echium oil increases plasma and neutrophil long-chain (n-3) fatty acids and lowers serum triacylglycerols in hypertriglyceridemic humans [2].
• Concentrations of long-chain (n-3) PUFA, including EPA, increased (P < 0.05) in plasma and neutrophils when subjects consumed Echium oil [2].
• Subjects (n = 11) whose serum triacylglycerol concentrations remained between 3.4 and 5.1 mmol/L (300 and 450 mg/dL) were instructed to consume 15 g of Echium oil daily for 4 wk [2].
• Flaxseed, echium, and canola oils contain alpha-linolenic acid (18:3n-3, ALA) in a range of concentrations [3].

Associations of Echium with chemical compounds

• Antimicrobial activity of quinone derivatives from Echium lycopsis callus cultures [4].
• Occurrence and characterization of oils rich in gamma-linolenic acid Part I: Echium seeds from Macaronesia [5].
• Pyrrolizidine alkaloids of Echium vulgare honey found in pure pollen [6].
• High squalene amounts were found in all Echium plants from the Macaronesia, ranging from 3.73%, in E. simplex to 20.1% in E. fastousum [7].
• Echimidine was isolated from Echium rauwolfii and Echium horridum and identified by MS, 1H- and 13C NMR as a major alkaloid [8].

Gene context of Echium

• This is in contrast to the low GLA level found in continental Echium species, all of them bearing an herbaceous habit [9].
• A case of allergic rhinitis which occurred on exposure to Paterson's Curse (Echium plantagineum) is described [10].
• Two cytochrome c allergens were isolated from extracts of the pollens of the dicotyledons English plantain (Plantago lanceolata) and Paterson's Curse (Echium plantagineum) by ion exchange chromatography, gel filtration and preparative isoelectric focusing [11].

Analytical, diagnostic and therapeutic context of Echium

• Pretreatment of animal with naloxone 4 mg/kg, s.c. 5 min before extract, decreased the analgesia induced by extract in hot-plate and acute phase of formalin tests; therefore, the opioid receptor may be involved at least partly in the analgesic effect of Echium amoenum extract [12].

References