St John's wort: Prozac from the plant kingdom

Conventional antidepressants are associated with a range of adverse drug re actions. The herb Hypericum perforatum (St John's wort) might offer another approach to the treatment of depression. Biochemical and animal studies su ggest that the phloroglucinol derivative hyperforin is the main active ingr edient of St John's wort, and inhibits the synaptosomal uptake of 5-HT. nor adrenaline. dopamine, glutamate and GABA. St John's wort has been shown to alleviate symptoms of mild to moderate depression, and seems to offer signi ficant advantages over conventional antidepressants because it is associate d with fewer adverse reactions. However, important herb-drug interactions h ave been described. In view of its efficacy and safety records. St John's w ort should be considered for the first-line treatment of mild to moderate d epression.