Ginseng Interactions

Ginseng interacts with phenelzine, a drug used to treat depression, stimulating the central nervous system. 

Jones BD, Runikis AM. Interaction of ginseng with phenelzine. J Clin Psychopharmacol 7(3) 201-202,1987. 

Janetzky K, Morreale AP. Probable interaction between warfarin and ginseng. Am J Health-Syst Pharm 54 692-693, 1997. 

Scholey AB and Kennedy DO (2002). Acute, dose-dependent cognitive effects of Ginkgo biloba, Panax Ginseng and their combination in healthy young volunteers Differential interactions with cognitive demand. Human Psychopharmacology - Clinical and Experimental, 17, 35-44. 

Pharmacogenetics in Potential Herb-Drug Interactions Effects of Ginseng on CYP3A4 and CYP2C9 Allelic Variants... 

In terms of the impact of polymorphisms, our results demonstrated that genetic mutations did not lead to differences in the inhibition of CYP2C9 or its allelic variants. This suggests that genetic background may not be involved in the predisposition of herb-drug interactions for ginseng with this enzyme. 

CYP enzymes are induced, resulting in reduced plasma drug levels. Alternatively, CYP enzymes could also undergo mechanism-based inhibition, whereby a CYP enzyme can be completely inactivated by covalent bonding to a component of the herb. Furthermore, botanicals can elicit a biphasic cellular response, whereby CYP activity may be inhibited initially, followed by induction after prolonged incubation or repeated administration. Such factors would need to be considered in future studies in order to establish the true risk of ginseng in herb-drug interactions. 

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