Elecampane
Inula helenium
Also known as: Wild Sunflower, Horse-heal, Marchalan
Overview
A large flowering plant whose root is rich in inulin and aromatic sesquiterpene lactones such as alantolactone. It has been used since antiquity — in Greek, Roman, and Ayurvedic medicine — as a cough remedy and expectorant. Laboratory studies show its compounds reduce inflammation in human respiratory cells, but elecampane has never been tested on its own in a clinical trial for chronic respiratory conditions, and it is not an approved herbal medicine in Europe.
Proposed mechanism
Alantolactone and isoalantolactone (the sesquiterpene lactones in elecampane root) have been shown in laboratory studies to disrupt bacterial biofilm formation and to suppress inflammatory cytokine release (IL-8, TNF-α, IL-1β) in human airway and immune cells — a plausible basis for the herb's traditional use in bronchitis. This evidence comes from in vitro and animal research; elecampane has not been tested on its own in a published human respiratory trial, and no study supports an effect on mucociliary clearance.
Mechanisms describe how researchers think a compound may act, often from laboratory work — a proposed mechanism is not proof of a clinical effect in people.
Traditional & studied uses
Related pathways
Pathway tags are a research aid for browsing the glossary — they are not a claim that this ingredient treats any condition.