Benefits
Liver enzymes and triglycerides in adults with raised ALT
In an 8-week placebo-controlled trial in Korea, 80 adults with mildly to moderately raised ALT (45 to 135 IU/L) took capsules of a water extract twice daily; 69 were analyzed. ALT and triglycerides fell more than with placebo (P = 0.044 and 0.020), while ALP, bilirubin and GGT did not differ. Three co-authors listed company affiliations.
Blood antioxidant capacity in healthy adults
In 19 healthy adults aged 20 to 55 who drank two 200 ml cups of agrimony tea a day for 30 days, serum total antioxidant capacity rose significantly. A second antioxidant test (FRAP) did not change significantly, and serum thiol levels fell. There was no control group, so the changes cannot be separated from other influences over the month.
HDL cholesterol in healthy adults
In the same 30-day tea study, HDL cholesterol rose and tracked with the hormone adiponectin. The lead author's dissertation summary adds that total cholesterol also rose, LDL cholesterol did not change, all lipids stayed within reference ranges, and adiponectin itself did not change significantly. This is one small study without a control group.
Inflammation marker IL-6 in healthy adults
Serum interleukin 6 (IL-6) fell significantly after 30 days of agrimony tea in the 19-person study, while C-reactive protein (CRP) did not change and stayed in the normal range. With no control group and only one of two inflammation markers moving, this does not show a lasting anti-inflammatory effect.
Blood sugar handling in lab and animal studies
In mice with chemically induced diabetes, agrimony mixed into food and drinking water countered high blood sugar, weight loss and excess thirst. A hot-water extract raised glucose uptake in mouse muscle and insulin release from cultured pancreatic cells. These are animal and cell findings, not results in people.
Artery relaxation in lab-tested human vessel tissue
In segments of chest-wall artery collected during heart bypass surgery, an agrimony infusion relaxed pre-contracted vessels strongly (maximum above 76%), partly through nitric oxide and cyclooxygenase pathways, with isoquercitrin a likely contributor. At a low concentration it also strengthened contraction. Tissue-bath work, not a blood pressure study.
Mechanism of action
Tannin-rich astringent herb
Agrimony's characteristic compounds are tannins, mainly condensed proanthocyanidins with a smaller share of ellagitannins. European regulators consider them likely contributors to its traditional effects, but no constituent with proven therapeutic activity has been identified, and no studies confirm in people which compounds are responsible.
Polyphenol antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activity in the lab
Agrimony infusion and its polyphenol fraction neutralized several free radicals in test-tube assays, lowered nitric oxide release from stimulated immune cells, and reduced paw swelling and pain responses in rodents at doses without signs of toxicity. These are laboratory and animal findings.
Insulin release and glucose uptake in cells
A hot-water extract stimulated insulin release from a pancreatic cell line in a dose-dependent way (1.9 to 3.8-fold), an effect blocked by diazoxide and dependent on heat during extraction, and raised glucose transport and glycogen formation in mouse muscle. Whether tea drinking has these effects in people is unknown.
Clinical trials
Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial run from January to July 2013 at a Korean oriental medicine hospital; capsules of an aqueous agrimony extract, two capsules twice daily. Three co-authors listed affiliations with two Korean companies. (Cho et al. 2018, J Med Food)
80 adults aged 20 or older with mildly to moderately raised ALT (45 to 135 IU/L); 69 analyzed (34 extract, 35 placebo) after 11 were excluded for protocol violation or withdrawn consent.
After 8 weeks, ALT (P = 0.044) and serum triglycerides (P = 0.020) fell more with the extract than with placebo, with significant group by time interactions for ALT, AST and triglycerides. ALP, total bilirubin and GGT did not differ between groups. No severe adverse events were reported. The abstract does not state the amount of extract per capsule, and the effect on liver health beyond these lab values was not measured.
Single-group before-and-after intervention study; 200 ml of agrimony tea at 9 am and 2 pm daily for 30 days, with fasting blood drawn on day 1 and day 30. Supported by a national research fund, COST Action BM0602 and a Medical University of Varna research fund. (Ivanova et al. 2013, Arch Physiol Biochem)
19 healthy volunteers aged 20 to 55 in Varna, Bulgaria (5 women, 14 men), asked not to change their diet or lifestyle (details from the lead author's dissertation summary).
Serum total antioxidant capacity rose (P < 0.001) and IL-6 fell, and HDL cholesterol rose and correlated with adiponectin. Per the dissertation summary, FRAP and adiponectin did not change significantly, CRP and LDL cholesterol were unchanged, total cholesterol rose, and serum thiols fell. Without a control group, these changes cannot be attributed to the tea with confidence.
Two-arm, open-label, uncontrolled pilot study in Australia (recruited 2001). The agrimony-containing formula combined dried powdered bilberry fruit, slippery elm bark, agrimony aerial parts and cinnamon. (Hawrelak et al. 2010, J Altern Complement Med)
31 people meeting Rome II criteria for irritable bowel syndrome; the 21 with diarrhea-predominant or alternating bowel habit took the agrimony-containing formula (the other 10 took a different formula without agrimony).
The authors concluded the agrimony-containing formula did not improve bowel habit, although bowel movement frequency rose slightly (P = 0.027) and straining, abdominal pain, bloating, flatulence and global symptom scores fell during treatment. With four herbs, no placebo and no control group, agrimony's own contribution cannot be judged.
Organ-bath study of an agrimony infusion, an ethyl acetate fraction and isolated constituents on human internal thoracic artery tissue, with blockers of the nitric oxide and cyclooxygenase pathways. (Malheiros et al. 2022, Pharmaceuticals (Basel))
Distal artery segments harvested from patients undergoing coronary revascularization surgery in Coimbra, Portugal; no one took agrimony by mouth.
The infusion caused strong concentration-dependent relaxation (maximum above 76%), reduced by blocking nitric oxide synthase and cyclooxygenase, but at 0.02 mg/ml it also raised basal tone slightly and boosted noradrenaline-induced contraction by 49%. Isoquercitrin reproduced much of the fraction's activity. Effects in a tissue bath do not show what drinking the tea does to blood vessels or blood pressure.