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May 7, 2007
Ginseng, ginkgo, don't interfere with prescription drugs
In the wake of recent concern over research indicating that the popular herb St John's wort could affect the absorption and metabolism of a number of drugs, many individuals have questioned whether other herbs could act similarly. However, on May 1, University of Kansas Medical Center scientist Dr Gregory Reed reported at the Experimental Biology 2007 meeting that ginseng and ginkgo biloba, two other widely used herbs, are not likely to alter the process by which drugs are absorbed, distributed, metabolized and eliminated.
For the current study, a team led by Dr Reed along with Dr Aryeh Hurwitz enrolled 31 men and 41 women between the ages of 20 and 59 who did not smoke, or use prescription drugs or nutritional supplements. Participants were given a cocktail of five drugs selected for their ability to provide a measure of the activity of an important drug metabolism pathway, so that, taken together, the drugs provide measurements of the pathways that determine how more than 90 percent of prescription drugs are metabolized. Blood and urine samples from the participants were analyzed to determine the absorption and metabolism of each drug.
The subjects were divided to receive one of the following daily regimens: ginseng and a placebo, ginkgo biloba and a placebo, ginseng and ginkgo, or two placebos. At the end of the four week treatment period, they were again given the drug cocktail, and blood and urine samples were once more analyzed to determine any effects elicited by the herbs. The team found no significant differences in the absorption and metabolism of any of the drugs between the four groups, suggesting that neither ginseng nor ginkgo affects the pharmacokinetics of most over-the-counter or prescription drugs.
Ginseng, ginkgo, don't interfere with prescription drugs
In the wake of recent concern over research indicating that the popular herb St John's wort could affect the absorption and metabolism of a number of drugs, many individuals have questioned whether other herbs could act similarly. However, on May 1, University of Kansas Medical Center scientist Dr Gregory Reed reported at the Experimental Biology 2007 meeting that ginseng and ginkgo biloba, two other widely used herbs, are not likely to alter the process by which drugs are absorbed, distributed, metabolized and eliminated.
For the current study, a team led by Dr Reed along with Dr Aryeh Hurwitz enrolled 31 men and 41 women between the ages of 20 and 59 who did not smoke, or use prescription drugs or nutritional supplements. Participants were given a cocktail of five drugs selected for their ability to provide a measure of the activity of an important drug metabolism pathway, so that, taken together, the drugs provide measurements of the pathways that determine how more than 90 percent of prescription drugs are metabolized. Blood and urine samples from the participants were analyzed to determine the absorption and metabolism of each drug.
The subjects were divided to receive one of the following daily regimens: ginseng and a placebo, ginkgo biloba and a placebo, ginseng and ginkgo, or two placebos. At the end of the four week treatment period, they were again given the drug cocktail, and blood and urine samples were once more analyzed to determine any effects elicited by the herbs. The team found no significant differences in the absorption and metabolism of any of the drugs between the four groups, suggesting that neither ginseng nor ginkgo affects the pharmacokinetics of most over-the-counter or prescription drugs.
