St John's wort: past and present in treatment of depressions (review)

This review presents сontemporary data about use of St. John's Wort. It include indications, mechanisms of action, clinical investigations of antidepressant efficacy, tolerability and side-effects, interactions of Hypericum with the other medications have been reviewed. Summary analysis shows that St. John's extract has an unique complex mechanism of action, according it data this antidepressant efficacy is higher than placebo and it's compatible with standard antidepressants in treatment of mild and moderate depression. Side-effects of St. John's Wort extract as a whole may be characterized as rare and relatively mild in their severity. Peculiarities of Hypericum interactions with other preparations pose definite limits in it use in some cases.