Clinical study: Plant extract can fight effectively against hay fever

Apr 27 2011

Fighting hay fever with a plant extract - this works, as was shown in a clinical study conducted by researchers of the Center of Allergy & Environment (ZAUM) of Helmholtz Zentrum München and Technische Universität München. Allergic symptoms were alleviated significantly better than with the usual histamine receptor antagonists. In a paper published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology the scientists explained how this plant extract works and how effective it is.

Antihistamine medications were hitherto considered the treatment of choice to alleviate the symptoms of hay fever sufferers. Now, in a randomized double-blind study, Dr. Adam Chaker and Prof. Dr. Carsten Schmidt-Weber demonstrated that the plant extract Ze 339 (Petasol butenoate complex) combats nasal mucosa swelling faster and more effectively.

Apparently, however, the extract not only works in acute cases - "Our data indicate that the extract also has a preventive effect, which must be investigated further," said Dr. Schmidt-Weber, head of the Center of Allergy & Environment (ZAUM) in Munich. The results look promising for improving the quality of life of people with allergies.

So far the plant extract has only been approved as a drug in Switzerland and South Korea. Further studies need to be carried out in order to allow it to be sold as a prescription drug on the German market.