There are 230 to 240 known Bidens species. Among them, Bidens pilosa is a representative perennial herb, globally distributed across temperate and tropical regions. B. pilosa has been traditionally used in foods and medicines without obvious adverse effects. Despite significant progress in phytochemical and biological analyses of B. pilosa over the past few years, comprehensive and critical rev...

BACKGROUND Postmenopausal women experience estrogen deficiency-related menopausal symptoms (e.g., hot flashes and mood swings) and a dramatic increase in the incidence of chronic diseases. Although estrogen-replacement therapy (ERT) can reduce mortality from cardiovascular disease and improve osteoporosis and menopausal symptoms, its side effects have limited recent use. This study investigated...

A review of the publications in traditional medicine indicates that the root of Glycyrrhiza glabra L., Fabaceae, is recommended for treatment of epilepsy. As a renewable source, the leaves of G. glabra var. glandulifera growing in Iran were examined for possible anticonvulsant activity. The anticonvulsant activity of the leaves’ ethanol extract and dichloromethane, f1, n-Hexane, f1A, and methan...

B. pilosa has long been purported to have antidiabetes activity, but despite the advancement in phytochemistry and animal models of diabetes, no human clinical trials have been conducted to date. Here, we evaluated the effect of a B. pilosa formulation on fasting blood glucose (FBG), fasting serum insulin, and glycosylated hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) in diabetic subjects. The B. pilosa formulation r...

Obesity and its complications are a major global health problem. In this study, we investigated the anti-obesity effect and mechanism of an edible plant, Bidens pilosa, and its active constituent. We first assessed the long-term effect of B. pilosa on body composition, body weight, blood parameters in ICR mice. We observed that it significantly decreased fat content and increased protein conten...

BACKGROUND Agrimonia pilosa Ledeb. is a medicinal plant with physiological activities such as anti-cancer, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory activities and in vitro anti-diabetic activity. However, the effects of aqueous extracts from A. pilosa on insulin-resistant rats have not yet been examined. We investigated the effects of aqueous extract from A. pilosa on impaired glucose metabolism induced ...

The ethnopharmacology of Madeira and Porto Santo Islands is extremely interesting because of the cultural and biogeographic features of this region, which make it a centre of medicinal plant diversity (richness of endemic flora, geographical isolation in the Atlantic sea, crosscultural influences, and past abundance of local healers). The medicinal flora of Madeira is composed of 259 species. S...

We tested a formulation composed of a mixture of Bidens pilosa var. radiata extract (BPE) and nematode-trapping fungi for its effects on Meloidogyne incognita. In earlier evaluations of the effects of plant extracts on the hyphal growth of 5 species of nematode-trapping fungi with different capture organs (traps), the growth of all species was slightly inhibited. However, an investigation on th...

Understanding changes in the interactions between parasitic plants and their hosts in relation to ontogenetic changes in the hosts is crucial for successful use of parasitic plants as biological controls. We investigated growth, photosynthesis and chemical defences in different-aged Bidens pilosa plants in response to infection by Cuscuta australis. We were particularly interested in whether pl...