Betony

Scientific Name(s): Stachys lavandulifolia Vahl, Stachys officinalis (L.) Trevisan.
Common Name(s): Betony, Bishop's wort, Common hedge nettle, Purple betony, Wood betony

Medically reviewed by Drugs.com. Last updated on Nov 1, 2024.

Clinical Overview

Use

Experimental or clinical studies to support the many traditional uses ascribed to betony are limited. Antioxidant, antimicrobial, and anti-inflammatory effects have been demonstrated in animal or in vitro studies only.

Dosing

Aerial wood betony tea at a dose of 5 g per 100 mL 3 times daily for 3 months has been suggested for polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS).

Contraindications

Contraindications have not yet been identified.

Pregnancy/Lactation

Avoid use; documented adverse effects.

Interactions

None well documented.

Adverse Reactions

Dyspepsia is the only adverse effect associated with the genus Stachys.

Toxicology

Overdosage may cause stomach irritation.

Scientific Family

• Lamiaceae (mint)

Botany

Betony is a square-stemmed, mat-forming perennial of the mint family. It is distributed widely throughout western and southern Europe. It has a rosette of hairy leaves and a dense terminal spike of pink, white, or purple flowers that bloom from June to September. The plant reaches a height of 1 m, and the aboveground parts are dried and used medicinally. It is native to Europe and is often cultivated as a garden ornamental.Duke 1989, USDA 2014 S. lavandulifolia is used commonly in Iran.Jalilian 2013

History

The use of betony has been known since the ancient Roman Empire, during which it was considered a panacea for a wide variety of diseases. In the Middle Ages, the plant was ascribed magical powers and continues to be used in traditional medicine today. A weak infusion is sometimes taken as a tea, and it is also used as an astringent to treat diarrhea and as a gargle or tea for irritations of the mouth and throat. It has been used to treat anxiety and has been given as a tincture or smoked for the treatment of headaches. The name "betony" may be derived from the Celtic form of bew (a head) and ton (good).Chevallier 1996, Duke 1989

Chemistry

Betony contains about 15% tannins, which account for its astringency. It also contains stachydrine, oxystachydrine, caffeoylquinic, caffeic, chlorogenic and rosmarinic acids, achillein, betaine, betonicin, choline, harpagide, and turicine. A report lists 6 phenylethanoid glycosides from the aerial parts of the plant. Sesquiterpenes, flavonoids, and hydrocarbons have been identified.(Duke 1989, Lazarević 2013, Miyase 1996) The maximum essential oil yield was obtained by the shade-drying method. The main compounds found in the fresh samples were spathulenol, myrcene, beta-pinene, delta-cadinene, and alpha-muurolol; spathulenol, cyrene, delta-cadinene, p-cymene, decane, alpha-terpinene, beta-pinene, and intermedeol were found to be the dominant compounds in dry samples.(Hazrati 2021)

Uses and Pharmacology

Experimental or clinical studies to support the many traditional uses ascribed to betony are rather limited.

Anti-inflammatory

Animal data

Extracts of the aerial plant parts showed anti-inflammatory activity in the carrageenan paw edema model in rats.(Háznagy-Radnai 2012)

Antifungal and antimicrobial activity

Animal and in vitro data

In vitro studies suggest that the essential oil of S. officinalis may have antifungal efficacy against Aspergillus and Candida albicans.(Lazarević 2013) Three Stachys species (Lamiaceae) from Romania, including S. officinalis, showed good in vitro antimicrobial capacity, especially on gram-positive bacteria.(Stegărus 2021)

Antioxidant activity

In vitro data

Depending on the extraction method, S. officinalis demonstrated significant antioxidant properties including in a lipid peroxidation assay.(Matkowski 2006) Half-maximal inhibitory concentration (IC₅₀) values of 101.8±0.8 mg/mL for the 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) assay and 315.2±2.1 mg/mL in the decreasing power assay where obtained for S. lavandulifolia.(Hazrati 2021)

CNS effects

Animal and in vivo data

Promising in vivo evidence on the antidepressant-like activity of S. lavandulifolia extracts could be related to flavonoids as the main components of the extracts. The antidepressant-like activity of mice given extracts was evaluated using the forced swimming test (FST) and the tail suspension test (TST), in order to evaluate general locomotor activity. In all cases, animals treated with S. lavandulifolia extracts had decreased immobility times in both FST and TST compared to the vehicle group without any significant effect on the locomotor activity of the animals.(Jahani 2019)

In vivo experiments have also suggested anti-Alzheimer, antidiabetic, and anti-obesity potential for S. lavandulifolia extracts.(Bahadori 2021)

Endocrine

The effect of S. lavandulifolia was compared with medroxyprogesterone for its effect on abnormal uterine bleeding in women with PCOS in a 3-month randomized, controlled trial (n=66). Women were randomized to either 10 days of medroxyprogesterone (10 mg/day on days 14 to 24 of 3 consecutive cycles) or daily tea from the aerial parts of wood betony (5 g per 100 mL 3 times daily starting on day 1 of the first cycle and continuing through the last day of the 3^rd cycle). Both wood betony tea and medroxyprogesterone significantly improved abnormal uterine bleeding symptoms with an age-adjusted reduction in prevalence rates of −1.8 and −1.6, respectively (P<0.001 for each). Wood betony was not inferior to medroxyprogesterone, as the difference in magnitude of effect between them was not significant. However, the reduction in abnormal sonographic findings was significantly better with wood betony (−51.5) compared to medroxyprogesterone (−9.1; P=0.036). Although no statistically significant difference was observed in adverse effects between the 2 treatment groups, approximately 9.1% of women in the wood betony group developed amenorrhea after the 3-month treatment period, whereas the incidence at baseline was 0%.(Jalilian 2013)

Dosing

There is no clinical evidence to guide dosage of betony. Traditional instructions include 1 to 2 g of the herb per day in 3 divided doses and 1 ounce of the herb per pint of boiling water.(Duke 1989) Aerial wood betony tea at a dose of 5 g per 100 mL 3 times daily for 3 months was found to be as effective as medroxyprogesterone in women with PCOS.(Jalilian 2013)

Pregnancy / Lactation

Avoid use; documented adverse effects.Chevallier 1996

Interactions

None well documented.

Adverse Reactions

Information regarding adverse reactions with the use of this product is limited. Dyspepsia is the only reported adverse effect that has been associated with the Stachys genus.Jalilian 2013

Related/similar drugs

Toxicology

Although there is little documented evidence of betony toxicity, overdosage may cause GI irritation because of the tannin content.Chevallier 1996 Betony polyphenols were found to be toxic in animals.Lipkan 1974

References

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