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News--
St. John's Wort May Cut Levels of Heart Drug
Jun 30, 2004

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Certain formulations of St. John's wort, an herbal remedy for depression, seem to reduce levels of digoxin, a drug that helps the heart to pump in people who have heart failure, new research suggests.

If the digoxin level falls too low, the drug may not provide a beneficial effect.

In the journal Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics, a German research team headed by Dr. Silke C. Mueller of the University of Rostock reports on a study in which 93 healthy volunteers took digoxin for 21 days.

After a 7-day period during which they took only digoxin, the subjects then added a 14-day course of either inactive "placebo" or one of ten over-the-counter St. John's wort preparations.

Medications were administered under supervision, and participants were fed standardized meals three times a day throughout the study.

St. John's formulations rich in chemicals called hypericin and hyperforin seemed to reduce blood-stream levels of digoxin. There were no interactions, however, when volunteers took "traditionally used" St. John's wort preparations.

The authors believe that the hypericin- and hyperforin-rich formulations produce their effect by turning on enzymes that break down digoxin.

SOURCE: Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics, June 2004.

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