St John's wort was not better than placebo for reducing depression scores.

Patients 200 physically healthy outpatients who were >18 years of age (mean age 42.4 y, 64% women); had MD (single episode or recurrent) without psychotic features according to DSM-IV for >4 weeks; and scored >20 on the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS). Exclusion criteria included current cognitive, post-traumatic stress, eating, or substance use disorders in the past 6 months; panic disorder in the past year; and bipolar, psychotic, or primary personality disorders. Patients who improved during the 1 week placebo run in period were also excluded. 84% of patients completed the study. Intervention Patients were allocated to St John’s wort, one 300 mg tablet 3 times daily (n=98) or placebo (n=102) for 8 weeks. The dose was increased to 4 tablets (1200 mg) daily for those who had not sufficiently improved by week 4 (mean daily dose 3.7 tablets [1110 mg] for St John’s wort, 3.6 tablets for placebo).