Butterbur Extract Urovex™

The Constituents of Butterbur

Butterbur is a herbaceous perennial native to North Asia, North America and Europe that has been the subject of a large number of controlled medical tests over the past decade. The current indications strongly promote its use in treating migraine and other constrictive conditions such as bronchitis and asthma, and also a number of conditions associated with inflammation such as rhinitis and hay fever.

The evidence for its use in treating migraine and allergic rhinitis is overwhelming and basically accepted, but the evidence for its effects on asthmatics less so. What is it about this unremarkable plant that renders it of so much interest to the scientific world?

Its primary constituents are two sesquiterpenes known as petasin and isopetasin, and it also contains minor quantities of furan derivatives and other minor substances. The active sesquiterpenoids are unequally distributed in the plant, most being concentrated in the rhizome. It is important therefore, that only a professionally prepared extract standardized on petasin is used for medicinal purposes.

Petasin and isopetasin are powerful anti-inflammatories, and while petasin itself mediates the effect of leukotrienes on inflammation and helps to prevent constriction and spasms of the smooth muscle walls in blood vessels, its isomer helps reduce inflammation by preventing the metabolism of the prostaglandins that cause it.

There will be many more trials carried out on butterbur before its effects on asthma are properly understood and accepted, and asthmatics should seek the advice of their physician on this potential property. It is commonly accepted, however, as a viable and effective treatment for migraine.

Using Butterbur in Asthma

Asthma has been traditionally treated using long-term control medication and also a short-term medication to relieve occasional spasms in the form of an inhaler. It is not unknown for each of these therapies to lead to adverse systemic side effects, and tests have been continuing on safer alternatives. Butterbur has recently been found to be one of these, having the capacity to improve lung function in patients suffering both bronchitis and asthma.

The effective component of butterbur here is believed to be the sesquiterpene petasin, which displays an ability to act as an anti-spasmodic, reducing muscle spasm in vascular walls and smooth muscles. It also depresses the action of leukotrienes that promote the inflammation that can lead to the restriction of the bronchus in asthma attacks.

While it should not be used as an alternative to prescribed asthma medication, butterburs can be used as a maintenance supplement according to instructions, where tests have indicated that it may reduce the frequency and severity of attacks. However, it is not universally accepted, and you should consult your own doctor if you intend to use butterbur extract in this way and use only a correctly prepared extract rather than use the plant itself.

Butterbur Extract Urovex™

The Effect of Butterbur on Migraine

Butterbur has been well researched for its effects on migraine headaches, and these affects have now been largely accepted by health authorities after a number of tests have confirmed its effectiveness. Butterbur contains a number of phytochemicals, but it is the sesquiterpenoids, given the names petasin and isopetasin, that possess the antispasmodic properties that help to reduce blood vessels spasms in the brain that are believed to be responsible for the pain of migraine.

Petasin is a very powerful anti-inflammatory, which prevents leukotrienes from constricting blood vessels in the brain and leading to spasms in the vessel walls that cause the symptoms of migraine. Additionally, isopetasin modulates the metabolism of prostaglandins that promote inflammation, and together, these two sesquiterpenes that are particularly strong in the rhizome of butterbur, have been successfully used in a large number of tests that have confirmed their positive effect in reducing or eliminating the symptoms of migraine.