Divinity Atlas

Sacred Correspondences
Articles

The Plant That Actually Does Something

Citation Formats

General Reference

APA Style

BibTeX

Learn More
The Plant That Actually Does Something

St John's Wort is Hypericum perforatum, and it is the one herb in this collection whose pharmacological activity is both well established and clinically significant enough to be a practical problem.

Extracts have been studied extensively for mild to moderate depression, and a substantial body of trial evidence and several meta-analyses support an effect, with results generally comparable to standard antidepressants in mild to moderate cases and considerably weaker evidence in severe ones. It is a licensed medicine in Germany and sold as a supplement elsewhere, which produces a large disparity in preparation quality.

The consequential fact is the interactions, and these are not disputed. Hyperforin, one of the principal constituents, is a potent inducer of cytochrome P450 3A4 and of P-glycoprotein. The practical result is that St John's Wort accelerates the clearance of a long list of drugs and can reduce them below effective concentration. Documented examples include oral contraceptives, warfarin, ciclosporin in transplant patients, some antiretrovirals, and several anticancer agents. There is also a serotonin syndrome risk in combination with SSRIs.

That is stated here as fact, not as advice: this is a plant with a real mechanism, and one of the clearest demonstrations available that herbal does not mean inert or safe. A herb potent enough to work is potent enough to interfere.

The plant also causes photosensitivity in livestock that graze it heavily, a recognised agricultural problem, and it is an invasive weed of rangeland in Australia and western North America.

Cross-Tradition Connections

Article On

Sources
Comments (0)
No comments yet. Be the first to share a thought.
Reader Challenges (0 open reader challenges)
No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.

View At A Past Year

The atlas records no dated fact of its own for this entry, so there is no other year to choose.