Integrative Extension of Drug Interaction Ontology (DIO) to Herb-Drug and Food-Drug Interactions

The safety profile of a drug, including adverse reactions and drug interactions, is not static and varies according to the use patterns of different patients. Drug interaction occurs not only between drugs (i.e. drug-drug interactions) but also between the drug and foods, herbs, supplements and other complementary and alternative medicines (CAMs). Thanks to the ease of Internet shopping, there is an increasing number of patients/consumers who purchase pharmaceuticals or CAMs for self-medication purposes. At the same time, there is increasing concern about safety problems, not only due to the quality of the products but also regarding the availability of appropriate and accurate information on which patients can rely. Even if the documentation is appropriate and of high-quality, most of it is written in natural language and the level of understanding may vary according to the patients’ background knowledge including tacit ethnic ones. Moreover, some reports suggest that patients do not tell their physicians about their use of CAMs. This fact also indicates the need for patients to be aware of the potential for drug interactions across non-drug xenobiotics with updated medical information.