Hypericum perforatum pharmacology

Nathan P. The experimental and clinical pharmacology of St. John s wort (hypericum perforatum L). Mol Psychiatry 1999 4 333-338. 

Barnes J, Anderson LA, Phillipson JD. St John s wort Hypericum perforatum L.) a review of its chemistry, pharmacology and clinical properties. J Pharm Pharmacol 2001 53 583-600. 

Greeson JM, Sanford B, Monti DA. St. John s wort (Hypericum perforatum) a review of the current pharmacological, toxicological, and clinical literature. Psychopharmacology 2001 153 402-414. 

Butterweck V, Korte B, Winterhoff H. Pharmacological and endocrine effects of Hypericum perforatum and hypericin after repeated treatment. Pharmacos-pychiatry 2001 34 S2-S7. 

HYPERICUM PERFORATUM - ST. JOHN S WORT CHEMICAL, PHARMACOLOGICAL AND CLINICAL... 

ABSTRACT Hypericum perforatum L., St. John s Wort, has become one of the most important medicinal plants of nowadays. This is a result of extensive research on the chemical constituents of this plant, and of increasing efforts for pharmacological and clinical profiling of St. John s Wort extracts and of their individual components. To date, these studies provide a solid basis for the the therapeutic use of St. John s Wort in the treatment of mild to moderate depressions. 

Despite the extensive traditional and current use of Hypericum in skin care and skin disorders targeted pharmacological studies related to these applications have rarely been performed. In a preliminary experimental study in human volunteers, equal quantities of hydroglycolic extracts from Calendula officinalis, Matricaria chamomilla, Anthemis nobilis, Tilia chordata, Centaurea cyanus and Hypericum perforatum were added at a 5 % level into the aqueous phase of 0.5 % hydrocortisone cream. When this preparation was applied to artificially induced skin abrasions, it was found that the plant extracts containing cream accelerated the healing time on an average of 16 % (3.4 days) versus the control [173). However, from this study no conclusions on the active ingredients and the mode of action can be drawn. 

BaUck Ml, Cox PA (1996) Plants, people, and culture the science of ethnobotany. W.H. Freeman/Sdentific American Library, New York Bandyukova VA, Khalmatov KhKh, ADmov Khl (1969) Flavonoids of Centaurea depressa. Chem Nat Compd 5(4) 274-275 Banthorpe DV, White JJ (1995) Novel anthraquinones from undifferentiated cell cultures of Galium verum. Phytochemistry 38(1) 107-111 Barakat HH, Hussein SAM, Marzouk MS, Merfort I, Linscheid M, Nawwar MAM (1997) PolyphenoUc metaboUtes of Epilobium hirsutum. Phytochemistry 46(5) 935-941 Barnes J, Anderson LA, PhiUipson DJ (2001) St John s wort Hypericum perforatum L.) a review of its chemistry, pharmacology and cUnical properties. J Pharm Pharmacol 53(5) 583-600... 

Nathan PJ. Hypericum perforatum a non-selective reuptake inhibitor A review of the recent advances in its pharmacology. J Psychopharmacol 2001 15 47-54. 

Another important aspect of food databases is that food and some food additives are, by nature, mixtures of componerrts. For example, flavors frequently comprise or contain extracts of plants. Such mixtures and combinations of mixtures provide fertile groimd for irarovatiom Similarly, in the search for bioactive molecirles, natural products have been and contirrue to be a primary soirrce of molecirles with potential therapeutic effect. In fact, traditional medicine around the world is ancestral and still in use. An interesting example of this is the medicinal herb St John s wort Hypericum Perforatum) which is prescribed in some cormtries for the treatment for depression [7]. The chemical composition and pharmacological effect of the... 

Hypericin and pseudohypericin (Fig. 21) are naphthodianthrones and occur in St. John s wort Hypericum perforatum, Clusiaceae). These dark-red compounds are accumulated in glands on the margin oiK perforatum leaves and petals. It was assumed for a long time that they represent the antidepressant principle in extracts of St. John s wort. Recently, however, it became evident that the prenylated acylphloroglucinols hyperforin and adhyperforin are responsible for most of the pharmacological effects. 

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