When: October 26, 2004, 12:00
Where: NIH Campus, Bethesda, MD
Institute: National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM)

There is a growing awareness that herbs can adversely affect how well prescription drugs work in the body, sometimes with life-threatening consequences. People interested in hearing about this topic can attend a lecture, "Reverse Herbology: Predicting and Preventing Adverse Herb-drug Interactions," given by Steven A. Kliewer, Ph.D., of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas. This lecture is sponsored by NCCAM's Distinguished Lectures in the Science of Complementary and Alternative Medicine.

One notable example of an herb changing how prescription medicine works is St. John's wort, which some people take as an antidepressant. It promotes the metabolism of many drugs, including the immunosuppressant cyclosporine, the HIV protease inhibitors indinavir and nevirapine, the cancer drug irinotecan, the anticoagulant warfarin, as well as oral contraceptives. Co-administering St. John's wort with these drugs can reduce their concentrations to dangerously low levels. The molecular basis for this type of herb-drug interaction is now understood: St. John's wort activates a receptor, named PXR, in the liver and intestine, which accelerates drug metabolism. This lecture will present recent research findings and discuss how this knowledge can help predict and prevent harmful interactions between herbs and prescription drugs.

Next Steps
This event is free and open to the public. The lecture also will be videocast and archived at http://videocast.nih.gov. For more information about NCCAM's Distinguished Lectures, visit http://nccam.nih.gov/news/lectures.

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