Study Demonstrates Dangerous Interaction Between St. John's Wort And An HIV Protease Inhibitor

Researchers at the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center have demonstrated that a widely used herbal product--St. John's wort--could significantly compromise the effectiveness of an antiviral drug Indinavir often prescribed to treat HIV infection.
Resistance to indinavir can decrease the response to other protease inhibitors. They include nelfinavir, amprenavir, ritonavir, and saquinavir.

This research is important because it demonstrates that a common agent such as St. John's wort may have unsuspected adverse effects on the function of a drug essential to the health of a very vulnerable population.

Many people think that herbal products like St. John's wort are safe, but there can be dangerous interactions when taken with other medications prescribed to treat medical conditions.