About Passionflower Monograph

A passionflower monograph for the home

Latin Name: Passiflora incarnata

Common Names: passionflower, maypop, apricot vine, maracuja, water lemon

This passionflower monograph provides basic information about passionflower—common names, usefulness and safety, and resources for more information.

Source: https://nccih.nih.gov/

Basics Research Results Dosing Safety Wildcrafting References PubMed

Passionflower Basics

Sixteenth-century Spanish explorers learned of passionflower in Peru. Native peoples of the Americas used passionflower as a mild sedative.
Today, passionflower is used as a dietary supplement for anxiety and sleep problems, as well as for pain, heart rhythm problems, menopausal symptoms, and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. It is applied to the skin for burns and to treat hemorrhoids.
Passionflower is available dried (which can be used to make tea), or as liquid extract, capsules, or tablets.

Passionflower in Health Research

Passionflower’s effect on anxiety and other conditions hasn’t been studied extensively.

Passionflower Research Summary

A 2007 review of two older studies with198 people compared the ability of passionflower and two drugs to reduce anxiety. It concluded that the three substances had about the same degree of minimal effectiveness; however, the researchers noted that the small number of studies don’t allow clear conclusions to be drawn.
A more recent review suggests that the majority of passionflower studies in people for any condition have serious flaws and, therefore, do not support its use.

Passionflower Safety

Passionflower is generally considered to be safe but may cause drowsiness.
Passionflower should not be used during pregnancy as it may induce contractions.

Passionflower References

Miroddi M, Calapai G, Navarra M, et al. Passiflora incarnata L: ethnopharmacology, clinical application, safety and evaluation of clinical trials. Journal of Ethnopharmacology. 2013;150(3):791-804.
Miyasaka LS, Atallah AN, Soares B. Passiflora for anxiety disorder. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. 2007;(1):CD004518 [edited 2009]. Accessed at https://www.thecochranelibrary.com(link is external) on June 4, 2015.
Passionflower. Natural Medicines Web site. Accessed at naturalmedicines.therapeuticresearch.com/ on June 4, 2015. [Database subscription].

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PubMed Articles About

Source: National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI)[Internet]. Bethesda (MD): National Library of Medicine (US), National Center for Biotechnology Information; [1988] – [cited 2018 Apr 5]. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/

Garima, S., Ajit Kumar, P., Marcy, DM., Sakthivel, R., Bhim Pratap, S., Nachimuthu Senthil, K., (2021) Ethnobotanical survey of medicinal plants used in the management of cancer and diabetes.

To conduct an ethnobotanical survey and document the traditional anticancer and antidiabetic plants used by the local tribes of Mizoram, Northeast India.

Chen, Y., Qin, J., Tao, L., Liu, Z., Huang, J., Liu, W., Xu, Y., Tang, Q., Liu, Y., Chen, Z., Chen, S., Liang, S., Chen, C., Xie, J., Liu, J., Chen, L., Tao, J., (2023) Effects of Tai Chi Chuan on Cognitive Function in Adults 60 Years or Older With Type 2 Diabetes and Mild Cognitive Impairment in China: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

Type 2 diabetes (T2D) is associated with the progression of cognitive dysfunction. Physical activity benefits cognition, but no evidence from randomized clinical trials has shown whether tai chi chuan has better long-term benefits than fitness walking in cognitive function for patients with T2D and mild cognitive impairment (MCI).

Borse, SP., Chhipa, AS., Sharma, V., Singh, DP., Nivsarkar, M., (2024) Management of Type 2 Diabetes: Current Strategies, Unfocussed Aspects, Challenges, and Alternatives.

Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) accounts for >90% of the cases of diabetes in adults. Resistance to insulin action is the major cause that leads to chronic hyperglycemia in diabetic patients. T2DM is the consequence of activation of multiple pathways and factors involved in insulin resistance and β-cell dysfunction. Also, the etiology of T2DM involves the complex interplay between genetics and environmental factors. This interplay can be governed efficiently by lifestyle modifications to achieve better management of diabetes. The present review aims at discussing the major factors involved in the development of T2DM that remain unfocussed during the anti-diabetic therapy. The review also focuses on lifestyle modifications that are warranted for the successful management of T2DM. In addition, it attempts to explain flaws in current strategies to combat diabetes. The employability of phytoconstituents as multitargeting molecules and their potential use as effective therapeutic adjuvants to first line hypoglycemic agents to prevent side effects caused by the synthetic drugs are also discussed.

Zhang, Z., Zhang, L., Xu, H., (2020) Effect of Astragalus polysaccharide in treatment of diabetes mellitus: a narrative review.

Diabetes mellitus is a chronic endocrine/metabolism disease characterized by hyperglycemia arising from defects in insulin action, insulin secretion, or both. Diabetes mellitus is often complicated by visceral lesions, which can lead to serious complications and death. A variety of new agents are in development for the treatment of the disease. Astragalus polysaccharides are monomer components extracted from the Traditional Chinese Medicine, Huangqi (Radix Astragali Mongolici), which have been studied widely for treating diabetes mellitus with promising effects in recent years. This paper reviews recent advances in experimental studies on the effects of Astragalus polysaccharides in treating diabetes mellitus. The effects of Astragalus polysaccharides on the etiology and complication of diabetes mellitus including insulin resistance and secretion, diabetic neuropathy, diabetic retinopathy, diabetic cardiomyopathy, diabetic foot, and infection complicated by diabetes mellitus are discussed.

Chen, YK., Liu, TT., Teia, FKF., Xie, MZ., (2023) Exploring the underlying mechanisms of obesity and diabetes and the potential of Traditional Chinese Medicine: an overview of the literature.

Obesity and diabetes are closely related metabolic disorders that have become major public health concerns worldwide. Over the past few decades, numerous studies have explored the underlying mechanisms of these disorders and identified various risk factors, including genetics, lifestyle, and dietary habits. Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) has been increasingly recognized for its potential to manage obesity and diabetes. Weight loss is difficult to sustain, and several diabetic therapies, such as sulfonylureas, thiazolidinediones, and insulin, might make it harder to lose weight. While lifestyle changes should be the primary approach for people interested in lowering weight, drugs are also worth investigating. Since some of the newer glucose-lowering medications that cause weight loss, such as glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1 RAs) and sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitors (SGLT2i), are additionally utilized or are under consideration for use as anti-obesity drugs, the frontier between glucose-lowering medication and weight loss drugs appears to be shifting. This review provides an overview of the literature on the underlying mechanisms of obesity and diabetes and the prospect of TCM in their management. We discuss the various TCM interventions, including acupuncture, herbal medicine, and dietary therapy, and their effects on metabolic health. We also highlight the potential of TCM in regulating gut microbiota, reducing inflammation, and improving insulin sensitivity. The findings suggest that TCM may provide a promising approach to preventing and managing obesity and diabetes. However, further well-designed studies are needed to confirm the efficacy and safety of TCM interventions and to elucidate their underlying mechanisms of action.

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