Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41521189›Full record

ArticleScientific reports2026

The effects of the Caribbean medicinal plant Argemone mexicana on Gardnerella vaginalis using a co-culture method with vaginal Lactobacillus spp.

Ella T Vardeman, Hai-Ping Cheng, Ina Vandebroek, Edward J Kennelly

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PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Scientific reports, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors.

Ella T VardemanThe Center for Plants, People and Culture, The New York Botanical Garden, 2900 Southern Boulevard, Bronx, NY, 10458, USA.
Hai-Ping ChengPhD Program in Biology, The Graduate Center, City University of New York, 365 5th Ave, New York, NY, 10016, USA.
Ina VandebroekThe Center for Plants, People and Culture, The New York Botanical Garden, 2900 Southern Boulevard, Bronx, NY, 10458, USA.
Edward J KennellyPhD Program in Biology, The Graduate Center, City University of New York, 365 5th Ave, New York, NY, 10016, USA. edward.kennelly@lehman.cuny.edu.

Funding

Ethnopharmacology of plants used by Haitians in New York City forwomen’s healthF31AT011471 · NCCIH · CUNY GRADUATE SCH AND UNIV CTR · PI VARDEMAN, ELLA · 2022 to 2024
$131k
National Institutes of Health, NCCIH F31AT011471NCCIH NIH HHS F31 AT011471
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Bacterial vaginosis (BV) is caused by vaginal microbiome dysbiosis, when beneficial Lactobacillus species are no longer dominant and are replaced by harmful anaerobic bacteria such as Gardnerella vaginalis. In Caribbean cultures, women use plants topically, such as Argemone mexicana, to treat several vaginal infections, including BV. There has been little research into how traditional botanical extracts affect the vaginal microbiota, especially as these extracts are often prepared in different ways for the same condition. This study aims to evaluate the effect of botanical preparations using an in vitro co-culture assay with beneficial Lactobacillus species and BV-causing Gardnerella vaginalis. This is an application of an in vitro co-culture assay to assess the effect of botanical preparations on the vaginal microbiota. We hypothesized that variations in the chemical composition of these preparations would affect the composition of vaginal microbiota. Argemone mexicana extractions were tested using an in vitro co-culture method with Gardnerella vaginalis and one of three vaginal Lactobacillus species and evaluated by UPLC-qToF-MS for metabolomic chemical analysis. Aqueous extractions that did not have significant antibacterial effect compared to the control in monoculture suppressed the growth of Gardnerella vaginalis in co-culture with Lactobacillus, supporting the traditional Dominican use of this plant. These results are likely related to the presence of berberine and polysaccharides in the aqueous extractions.

Indexed as

ArgemoneGardnerella vaginalisLactobacillusPlant ExtractsPlants, MedicinalVaginaCaribbean RegionCoculture TechniquesFemaleHumansMicrobiotaVaginosis, BacterialPlant ExtractsBerberineEthnopharmacologyTraditional medicineVaginal microbiotaWomen’s health

Identifiers

PMID41521189
PMCPMC12800088

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.