Since ancient times, the essential oils (EOs) of many aromatic plants have been used as bioactive ingredients in drug, food and cosmetic formulations all over the world. Significant biological properties have also been attributed to Hypericum EOs. Hypericum is a genus of about 450 species in the Guttiferae family, formerly often treated separately in their own Hypericaceae family. Despite the l...

Herb-drug interactions are an important safety concern and this study was conducted regarding the interaction between the natural top-selling antidepressant remedy Hypericum perforatum (Hypericaceae) and conventional drugs. This study examined the influence of acute pretreatment with different extracts of Hypericum perforatum from Serbia on pentobarbital-induced sleeping time, impairment of mot...

we assessed the size and composition of the soil seed bank and above-ground vegetation in 52 relevés representing a range of habitats within an old- growth, temperate deciduous forest at hyrcanian region, northern iran. we identified 63 taxa in the seed bank, with an average density of 4202 seeds/spores per m2 by seedling emergence method. hypericum androsaemum, cardamine impatiens, and rub...

OBJECTIVE To investigate the efficacy of hypericum extract WS 5570 (St John's wort) compared with paroxetine in patients with moderate to severe major depression. DESIGN Randomised double blind, double dummy, reference controlled, multicentre non-inferiority trial. SETTING 21 psychiatric primary care practices in Germany. PARTICIPANTS 251 adult outpatients with acute major depression with...

St John's wort (Hypericum perforatum) is a traditional herbal medicine that is used for the topical treatment of superficial wounds, burns and dermatitis. The characteristic metabolites of St John's wort are the photodynamic active plant pigment hypericin and the phloroglucin-derivative hyperforin. To date, no studies on immunomodulatory properties of topical preparations of St John's wort have...

OBJECTIVES To assess the efficacy and safety of hypericum extract (STEI 300, Steiner Arzneimittel, Berlin) compared with imipramine and placebo in patients in primary care with a current episode of moderate depression. DESIGN Randomised, double blind, multicentre, parallel group trial for 8 weeks. SETTING Trained panel of 18 general practitioners from four German states: Bavaria, Berlin, Rh...

This special issue on the genus Hypericum (family Hypericaceae) consists of 12 articles focusing on recent advancements related to biosynthetic pathways, biotechnology, molecular biology, genomics, pharmacology, and related disciplines. Hypericum is well-known for its medicinal properties. There are about 487 Hypericum spp., which are distributed across every continent except Antarctica. Althou...

BACKGROUND Recent investigations suggest an anti-inflammatory and antibacterial effect of hyperforin, which is a major constituent of Hypericum perforatum L. (Saint John's wort). OBJECTIVE In the present half-side comparison study we assessed the efficacy of a cream containing Hypericum: extract standardised to 1.5% hyperforin (verum) in comparison to the corresponding vehicle (placebo) for t...