Description: Elderberry (Sambucus nigra) is commonly used as a food product for wine, pie, and jelly. Its leaves were traditionally used for pain relief and applied to wounds to promote healing. Other traditional uses include treatment of infections, skin conditions, and coughing.
Elderberry contains many flavonoids, including Quercetin. Its therapeutic effects are found both in its berries and flowers.
Elderberry, taken several times daily, appears to cause flu patients to recover more rapidly.1 It may also be effective against herpes simplex (cold sores).2
The elderberry flowers may also be effective as an anti-inflammatory.3
Useful in treatment of: cold sores, influenza.
Recommended Dosage: 5 to 10 ml twice daily.
Contraindications: None.
Additional studies that demonstrated the effectiveness of Sambucol include:
Inhibition of Several Strains of Influenza Virus in Vitro and Reduction of Symptoms by an Elderberry Extract (Sambucus Nigra L.) During an Outbreak of Influenza B Panama
Zichria Zachay-Rones, Ph.D., Noemi Varsano, M.Sc., Moshe Zlotnik, M.D., Orly Manor, Ph.D., Liora Regev, Miriam Schlesinger and Madeleine Mumcuoglu, Ph.D. Department of Virology, Hebrew University-Hadassah Medical School, Jerusalem, Israel; Central Virology Laboratory, Public Health Laboratories, Chaim Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer, Israel; Ben Gurion University, Soroka Medical Center, Beer Sheva, Israel; Brown School of Public Health and Community Medicine, Hebrew University-Hadassah Medical School, Jerusalem, Israel.
The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 1995: 1, 361-369
Abstract:
A standardized elderberry extract, Sambucol® (SAM), reduced hemagglutination
and inhibited replication of human influenza viruses type A/Shangdong 9/93
(H3N3), A/Beijing 32/92 (H3N2), A/Texas 36/91 (H1N1), A/Singapore 6/86
(H1N1), type B/Panama 45/90, B/Yamagata 16/88, B/Ann Arbor 1/86, and of
animal strains from Northern European swine and turkeys, A/Sw/Ger 2/81,
A/Tur/Ger 3/91, and A/Sw/Ger 8533/91 in Madin-Darby canine kidney cells. A
placebo-controlled, double-blind study was carried out on a group of
individuals living in an agricultural community (kibbutz) during an outbreak
of influenza B/Panama in 1993. Fever, feeling of improvement, and complete
cure were recorded during 6 days. Sera obtained in the acute and
convalescent phases were tested for the presence of antibodies to influenza
A, B, respiratory syncytial, and adenoviruses. Convalescent phase serologies
showed higher mean and mean geometric hemagglutination inhibition (HI)
titers to influenza B in group treated with SAM than in the control group. A
significant improvement of the symptoms, including fever, was seen in 93.3%
of the cases in the SAM-treated group within 2 days, whereas in the control
group 91.7% of the patients showed an improvement within 6 days (p>0.001). A
complete cure was achieved within 2 to 3 days in nearly 90% of the
SAM-treated group and within at least 6 days in the placebo group (p>0.001).
No satisfactory medication to cure influenza type A and B is available.
Considering the efficacy of the extract in vitro on all strains of influenza
virus tested, the clinical results, its low cost, and absence of
side-effects, this preparation could offer the possibility for safe
treatment for influenza A and B.
The Effect of Sambucol in Flu-like Symptoms in Chimpanzees (Pan Troglodytes): Prophylactic and Symptom-Dependent Treatment
Beverly Burge, Madeleine Mumcuoglu, Ph.D., Tal Simmons, Ph.D.
Abstract:
The use of Sambucol® for prophylaxis and treatment of flu in chimpanzees was
investigated at the Tisch Family Zoological Garden in Jerusalem, Israel.
Sambucol™ is a commercially produced product containing an extract of
elderberries (Sambucus nigra L.), long known in folk medicine as a treatment
for influenza. The experimental group received 10 ml of Sambucolä while the
control group received a placebo of 10 ml of sugar syrup daily. The
chimpanzees taking Sambucolä exhibited symptoms approximately three times
less often than the chimpanzees of the control group. Individual chimpanzees
in the experimental group also received an increased dosage (15 ml, twice
daily) of Sambucolä when they exhibited symptoms of illness. The duration of
illness in these individuals was approximately three times less than in
untreated chimpanzees that exhibited the same symptoms.
The Effect of Sambucol® on HIV Infection In Vitro
O. Shapira-Nahor, Z. Zakay-Rones and M. Mumcuoglu, Virology Department, Institute of Microbiology, Hebrew University Hadassah, Medical School, POB 12272, Jerusalem 91120, Congress of Microbiology, February 6-7, 1995
Abstract:
Sambucol®, a new product based on the fruit of the black elder, contains a
high amount of three flavonoids. Sambucol exhibited antiviral activity
against various strains of influenza virus (both A and B), herpes virus type
1 and parainfluenza viruses. In this study we tested the ability of Sambucol
to inhibit the infection of laboratory HIV strains as well as clinical HIV
isolates in CD4+ cell lines (CEM and Molt 4) and human peripheral blood
lymphocytes. For this purpose HIV was pre-incubated with two dilutions of
Sambucol before being added to the cells. We determined a significant
reduction in the infectivity of HIV strains (ELI, LAI, HIV IIIb) in the
presence of Sambucol, by measuring the level of HIV core antigen p24 in
supernatants of the infected cultures, as compared with controls without
Sambucol. We did not detect HIV – antigen 5 and 9 days post infection in
cultures infected with patient isolates which were previously treated with
Sambucol. Such an approach may have a practical application in designing a
simple or combined viral intervention therapy for individuals already
exposed to the virus.
References:
1Zakay-Rones Z, Varsano N, Zlotnik M, et al. Inhibition of several strains of influenza virus in vitro and reduction of symptoms by an elderberry extract (Sambucus nigra L) during an outbreak of influenza B in Panama. J Alt Comp Med 1995;1:361–69.
2Serkedjieva J, Manolova N, Zgórniak-Nowosielska I, et al. Antiviral activity of the infusion (SHS-174) from flowers of Sambucus nigra L., aerial parts of Hypericum perforatum L., and roots of Saponaria officinalis L. against influenza and herpes simplex viruses. Phytother Res 1990;4:97–100.
3Mascolo N, Autore G, Capasso G, et al. Biological screening of Italian medicinal plants for anti-inflammatory activity. Phytother Res 1987;1:28–31.
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