Integrative Physician's Perspective, With a Special Consideration of St John’s Wort

St. John's wort.

St. John's wort.

St. John's wort has been used to treat a variety of conditions. Several brands are standardized for content of hypericin and hyperforin, which are among the most researched active components of St. John's wort. St. John's wort has been found to be superior to placebo and equivalent to standard antidepressants for the treatment of mild to moderate depression. Studies of St. John's wort for the t...

Drug interactions with St John's wort.

discussed the potential for St. John’s wort (SJW) to cause drug interactions. At that time, SJW had been identified as an inducer of cytochrome P450 3A4 (CYP3A4) and P-glycoprotein (P-gp). We discussed the interactions with alprazolam, oral contraceptives, and several antiretroviral drugs. In each case, SJW was shown to increase the metabolism of the object drug resulting in a reduction in effi...

Pharmacokinetic interactions of Hypericum perforatum L. (St John's wort) with conventional drugs: a review of clinical studies

Background and objectives: Hypericum perforatum L., commonly known as St. John’s wort (SJW) from the family Hypericaceae is a famous medicinal plant used to treat mild to moderate depression; so, it might affect the pharmacokinetics of numerous drugs. Due to widespread herb-drug interactions of SJW, this study was designed to review the clinical evidences regarding the...

St. John's wort - an overview.

This article aims to summarize the current state of knowledge on St. John's wort (Hypericum perforatum L.) which is one of the oldest and best investigated medicinal herbs. Dried alcoholic extracts are the most important preparations on the market although a variety of other preparations are available. Depressive disorders according to modern diagnostic standards are the best known and most wid...