Table 3.

Pharmacological properties of Equisetum genus stratified by effect, key findings, and species.

Effect	Key findings	Species	Reference
Diuretic activity	Increased excretion of sodium, potassium, and chloride	Equisetum fluviatile	[75]
		Equisetum hyemale var. affine
		Equisetum giganteum
		Equisetum myriochaetum
	Increased excretion of sodium, potassium, and chloride∗	Equisetum bogotense	[18]
	No effects on the urinary excretion of electrolytes∗	Equisetum arvense L.	[13]
Urinary bladder disorders	Increased interval between urinary bladder contractions and decreased bladder contraction pressure	Equisetum arvense L.	[67]
Urinary incontinence	Improvement in urinary incontinence episodes; day-time urination frequency; and gain in nocturnal urinary frequency∗	CELcomplex® (Cucurbita pepo L.; Equisetum arvense L.; and Linum usitatissimum L.)	[68]
State of hydration and bloating sensation	Decreased extracellular water and fat mass∗	Formula (Fraxinus ornus L.; Ananas comosus L.; Betula pendula R.; Equisetum arvense L.; Urtica dioica L; and Pilosella officinarum L. Vaill.)	[69]
Nephrolithiasis	Lower calcium oxalate crystals	Formula (Herniaria glabra L.; Agropyron repens; Equisetum arvense L.; and Sambucus nigra L.)	[70]
Antinociceptive effect	Inhibitory action on chemically induced acute pain test	Equisetum arvense L.	[84]
	Reduction of clinical chronic musculoskeletal pain∗	Equisetum arvense L.	[86]
Anti-inflammatory effect	Anti-inflammatory action on COPD model	Equisetum arvense L.	[85]
	Reduction of antigen-induced arthritis model	Equisetum giganteum L.	[9]
Cytotoxic and anticancer effect	Reduction in cell viability of cancer cells	Equisetum arvense L.	[87–90]
Effect on bone diseases	Increase in calcium absorption	Equisetum arvense L.	[92]
	Proliferation of osteoblasts or inhibitory action in osteoclasts	Equisetum arvense L.	[38, 94]
	Bone resorption markers of rats	Equisetum arvense L.	[95]
	Bone mineral density of rats	Equisetum arvense L.	[95, 96]
Antidiabetic	Beneficial effects in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats	Equisetum myriochaetum Schlecht. and Cham.	[66]
	Clinically beneficial to recently diagnosed type 2 diabetic patients∗	Equisetum myriochaetum Schlecht. and Cham.	[99]
	Beneficial effects in alloxan-induced diabetic rabbits	Equisetum giganteum L.	[97]
	Reduction in oxidative stress	Equisetum arvense L.	[101]
Antioxidant and antimicrobial	Antimicrobial activity	Equisetum giganteum L.	[10, 28, 98]
	Antioxidant and antimicrobial of supercritical fluid extraction	Equisetum telmateia Ehrh.	[40]
	Bactericidal, fungicidal, and antiprotozoal effect	Equisetum hyemale L.	[61, 100]
	Bactericidal and fungicidal activity	Equisetum arvense L.	[91]
	Radical scavenger activity	Equisetum arvense L.	[102]
		Equisetum ramosissimum Desf. and Equisetum telmateia Ehrh.
	Radical scavenger activity and antimicrobial activity	Equisetum arvense L.	[24]
		Equisetum sylvaticum L.
		Equisetum fluviatile L.
		Equisetum palustre L.
		Equisetum telmateia Ehrh.
	Radical scavenger activity and antimicrobial activity	Equisetum telmateia Ehrh.	[47]
Effects on central nervous system	Anticonvulsant and sedative effects	Equisetum arvense L.	[103]
	Prolonged the ketamine-induced total sleeping time and decreased the locomotor activity in mice	Equisetum arvense L.	[104]
Antiulcer	Gastroprotective potential against different ulcerogenic agents	Equisetum palustre L.	[35]

^∗Clinical study.