Hyperforin as a possible antidepressant
component of hypericum extracts
by
Chatterjee SS, Bhattacharya SK,
Wonnemann M, Singer A, Muller WE
Pharmacology Department,
Dr. Willmar Schwabe GmbH & Co.,
Karlsruhe, Germany.
Life Sci 1998; 63(6):499-510

ABSTRACT

We demonstrate that the phloroglucinol derivative hyperforin is not only the major lipophilic chemical constituent of the medicinal plant Hypericum perforatum (St. John's wort) but also a potent uptake inhibitor of serotonin (5-HT), dopamine (DA), noradrenaline (NA), GABA and L-Glutamate with IC50 values of about 0.05-0.10 microg/ml (5-HT, NA, DA, GABA) and about 0.5 microg/ml (L-glutamate) in synaptosomal preparations. Furthermore, potencies of two different hypericum extracts in two conventional pharmacological paradigms useful for the detection of antidepressants (behavioral despair, learned helplessness), closely correlate with their hyperforin contents. In addition, most till now known neuropharmacological properties of the clinically used hypericum extracts can also be demonstrated with pure hyperforin. It appears, therefore, that this non-nitrogenous constituent is a possible major active principle responsible for the observed clinical efficacies of the extract as an antidepressant and that it could also be a starting point for drug discovery projects engaged in the search of psychoactive drugs with novel mode of action.

SAMe
Inositol
Serotonin
Dopamine
Kava-kava
Hyperforin
Hypericum
Herbal highs
Noradrenaline
St John's wort
Hypericin : structure
St John's wort and OCD
St John's wort and mania
St John's wort and adenosine
St John's wort for depression
"Prozac from the plant kingdom"
St John's wort and elderly depressives
St John's wort: a smart antidepressant?
Use of St John's wort to treat major depression


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