Pharmacology of Xanthium species. A review

Abstract

The genus Xanthium (Family Asteraceae) is represented by 25 species that are widely distributed in the world. Only a few species such as Xanthium strumarium and Xanthium spinosum, are studied for different pharmacological and phytochemical activities. These species has shown analgesic, anti-inflammatory, antiarthritic, cytotoxic, anti-angiogenesis an d antiviral etc. in various established in-vivo and in-vitro experiments. Further studies are required to explore the therapeutic potential of already reported activities in term of clinical utility as well as the phytochemical and pharmacological studies on remaining species in the light of traditional uses.