Focus on Alternative and Complementary Therapies
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Focus Alternat Complement Ther©2005 Pharmaceutical Press
Focus Altern Complement Ther 2003; 8: 152
Many antiviral compounds presently in clinical use have a narrow spectrum of activity, limited therapeutic usefulness and variable toxicity. There is also an emerging problem of resistant viral strains. This study was undertaken to examine the published literature on herbs and plants with antiviral activity and evidence of human clinical efficacy.
Independent literature searches were performed on Medline, EMBASE, CISCOM and Cochrane Library for information on plants and herbs with antiviral activity. There was no restriction on the language of publication. Data from clinical trials of single-herb preparations used to treat uncomplicated viral infections were extracted in a standardised, predefined manner.
Many hundreds of herbal preparations with antiviral activity were identified. Yet, extracts from only 11 species met the inclusion criteria of this review and have been tested in clinical trials. Twenty-eight randomised, and a further seven non-randomised, clinical trials were identified. Thirteen randomised trials described the use of Phyllanthus spp. for treatment of hepatitis B, six reporting positive results. The other 10 herbal medicines had each been tested in between one and four clinical trials. Only two of these 21 trials reported no benefit from the herbal product.
Although the majority of the clinical trials reported some benefits from use of antiviral herbal medicines, there remains a need for larger, stringently designed, randomised clinical trials to provide conclusive evidence of their efficacy.
