TCM Properties

Traditional Use

Clears Heat and resolves toxicity — febrile illness, appendicitis, tonsillitis, pharyngitis, dysentery, and snake or insect bite
Dispels Wind-Heat, releases the exterior — common cold with fever, headache, and sore throat from Wind-Heat invasion
Anti-inflammatory, stops pain — abdominal pain from appendix inflammation, intestinal abscess, traumatic injury
Cools Blood and stops bleeding — hematuria, epistaxis, and bloody dysentery from Blood Heat

Antihypertensive — widely used in southern China and Taiwan folk medicine for hypertension; flavonoids and phenolic acids act on multiple vascular pathways
Antidiabetic — folk use for blood glucose control validated in multiple modern studies; one of the most well-researched Chinese folk herbs for metabolic syndrome

Ben Cao Gang Mu Shi Yi (本草纲目拾遗; Supplement to the Compendium, Zhao Xuemin): records Gui Zhen Cao ('ghost needle herb', named for the barbed achene seeds that cling like needles) for Heat-toxin patterns including intestinal abscess and venomous bites — not in the main Ben Cao Gang Mu as it is a more recently documented folk herb
Guang Zhou Min Jian Cao Yao (广州民间草药): documents extensive use of Gui Zhen Cao (Bidens pilosa) in Guangzhou and south China folk practice for appendicitis, dysentery, hypertension, and diabetes — one of the most commonly used folk herbs across tropical and subtropical China

Luteolin, quercetin, kaempferol (flavonoids; anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antidiabetic)
Luteolin-7-glucoside and quercetin-3-glucoside (flavonoid glycosides; bioavailable forms)
Chlorogenic acid, caffeic acid, and 3,5-dicaffeoylquinic acid (phenolic acids; antioxidant, antidiabetic, anti-inflammatory)
Polyacetylenes (1-phenylhepta-1,3,5-triyne and related compounds; anti-inflammatory, cytotoxic)
Cytopiloyne (polyacetylene glucoside; antidiabetic — pancreatic β-cell protective)
Bidensyneoside and related chalcones (anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial)
Polysaccharides (immunostimulatory)

Antidiabetic: cytopiloyne from Bidens pilosa stimulates insulin secretion from pancreatic β-cells, protects β-cells from cytokine-mediated destruction, and improves glucose tolerance in streptozotocin-induced diabetic mice; mechanism involves Ca2+/calmodulin signalling and NF-κB inhibition — one of the most mechanistically detailed validations of a traditional antidiabetic folk herb (PMID 17525406)
Antihypertensive and vasodilatory: flavonoid fraction from B. pilosa inhibits ACE activity and relaxes vascular smooth muscle via NO/cGMP pathway; clinical observational data from Taiwan support the traditional hypertension use; luteolin-7-glucoside identified as a principal active component in vascular relaxation assays
Anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory: aqueous extract of B. pilosa significantly inhibits LPS-induced NF-κB activation, COX-2 expression, and TNF-α/IL-6 production in macrophages; in vivo anti-inflammatory efficacy demonstrated in multiple rodent models of acute and chronic inflammation — mechanistic basis for the Heat-toxin and appendicitis traditional applications

Spleen-Stomach Deficiency Cold — cool-bitter nature will impair digestive Yang with prolonged use
Cold-Damp patterns without Heat signs

Standard dose: 15–30 g dried herb in decoction; 30–60 g fresh herb; topical: fresh herb poultice for snake bite and wounds
Antidiabetic medications (insulin, metformin, sulfonylureas): additive glucose-lowering effect via cytopiloyne and flavonoids; monitor blood glucose if consuming regularly in quantity
Antihypertensive drugs: additive blood-pressure-lowering effect; monitor in patients on antihypertensives
Generally considered safe at therapeutic doses; widely consumed as a tea and vegetable in tropical folk medicine cultures worldwide
Asteraceae allergy: rare contact dermatitis possible in Asteraceae-sensitised individuals

Antidiabetic medications — additive hypoglycemic effect via cytopiloyne; monitor blood glucose
Antihypertensive drugs — additive blood-pressure lowering via ACE inhibition and NO pathway; monitor