The medicinal use of black cohosh (Actaea racemosa or Cimicifuga racemosa) has a long herhal tradition in North America and Europe. A member ofthe huttercup family, black cohosh is native to the eastern part of North America and found as far west as Arkansas. Black cobosh was used by Native Americans for a range of disorders, including menstrual cramps, labor pains, general malaise, malaria, ki...

Recent investigation on drug interaction has shown that some foods and herbal medicines increase the oral availability of a variety of CYP3A4 substrates, which is caused by the reduction of CYP3A4 in intestinal epithelium. During the course of our investigation on CYP3A4 interaction, we found that the commercially available dietary supplement made from black cohosh (Cimicifuga racemosa) showed ...

Black cohosh (Actaea racemosa L.) is a native North American species, where it is widely used as an herbal supplement for the relief of menopausal symptoms. It is available in Europe as a phytomedicine since the 1950s. Black cohosh commercial products were ranked in the top ten of supplement sales in the USA. In addition to A. racemosa, there are other North American and Asian Actaea species. D...

BACKGROUND Extracts from the rhizome of Cimicifuga racemosa (black cohosh) are increasingly popular as herbal alternative to hormone replacement therapy (HRT) for the alleviation of postmenopausal disorders. However, the molecular mode of action and the active principles are presently not clear. Previously published data have been largely contradictory. We, therefore, investigated the effects o...

The Women's Health Initiative found that combination estrogen and progesterone hormone replacement therapy increases breast cancer and cardiovascular disease risk, which compelled many women to seek herbal alternatives such as black cohosh extract (BCE) to relieve their menopausal symptoms. While several clinical trials document the efficacy of BCE in alleviating menopausal symptoms, preclinica...

OBJECTIVES To evaluate usage pattern, effectiveness and safety of Black cohosh alone or in fixed combination with St. John's wort on menopausal symptoms in general clinical practice. METHOD Prospective, controlled open-label observational study of 6141 women at 1287 outpatient gynecologists in Germany. Subjects were treated with recommended doses of study therapies, with treatment chosen by t...

The roots/rhizomes of Cimicifuga racemosa L. (Nutt.) (black cohosh) have traditionally been used to treat menopausal symptoms through an unknown mechanism of action. In an effort to determine if black cohosh had additional health benefits, methanol extracts were investigated for their potential to scavenge reactive oxygen species and to protect against menadione-induced DNA damage. These extrac...

OBJECTIVES To investigate the effect of black cohosh on the estrogen biosynthesis in the breast in vitro. METHODS Steroid sulfatase (STS) activity was studied in normal breast tissue obtained from pre- and postmenopausal women undergoing reduction mammoplasty. STS protein expression was studied by immunohistochemistry and western blotting. Breast tissue was incubated in vitro without or with ...

Herbal supplements are commonly used by patients for various problems. It is a well-known fact that most patients do not tell their physicians about the use of herbal supplements unless they are specifically asked. As a result, sometimes important information regarding drug side effects is missed in history taking. During our literature search, we found several retrospective studies and other m...