CLINICAL
RESPIRATORY CPD
MEDICINAL USE OF
PELARGONIUM SIDOIDES
Pelargonium sidoides is an important traditional medicine with a rich ethnobotanical history.
The importance of Pelargonium
species, most notably Pelargonium
reniforme and Pelargonium
sidoides, in traditional medicine in
the southern African region is well
documented. A modern aqueous-
ethanolic formulation of the roots of
P. sidoides (EPs 7630) is successfully
employed for the treatment of ear,
nose and throat disorders as well as
respiratory tract infections.
To provide a scientific basis of its
present utilisation in phytomedicine,
EPs 7630, extracts were evaluated
for antibacterial activity and for
their effects on nonspecific immune
functions. The samples exhibited
merely moderate direct antibacterial
capabilities against a spectrum of
Gram-positive and Gram-negative
bacteria. Functional bioassays including
an in vitro model for intracellular
diseases, a fibroblast lysis assay
(tumour necrosis factor [TNF] activity),
a fibroblast-virus protection assay
(IFN activity) and a biochem