Antidepressant-like effect of Hypericum perforatum (St John's wort) on the sleep polysomnogram

We studied the effect of two doses (0.9 mg and 1.8 mg) of Hypericum perforatum (St John's wort) on the sleep polysomnogram of healthy subjects using a placebo-controlled, cross-over design. Both doses of hypericum significantly increased the latency to rapid eye movement (REM) sleep without pro...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Psychopharmacologia 1998-10, Vol.139 (3), p.286-287
Main Authors: SHARPLEY, A. L, MCGAVIN, C. L, WHALE, R, COWEN, P. J
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Antidepressants
Antidepressive Agents - pharmacology
Biological and medical sciences
Cross-Over Studies
Double-Blind Method
Ericales
Female
General pharmacology
Humans
Hypericum perforatum
Latency
Male
Medical sciences
Pharmacognosy. Homeopathy. Health food
Pharmacology. Drug treatments
Plants, Medicinal
REM sleep
Sleep, REM - drug effects
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Summary:We studied the effect of two doses (0.9 mg and 1.8 mg) of Hypericum perforatum (St John's wort) on the sleep polysomnogram of healthy subjects using a placebo-controlled, cross-over design. Both doses of hypericum significantly increased the latency to rapid eye movement (REM) sleep without producing any other effect on sleep architecture. Our data are consistent with the proposed clinical antidepressant efficacy of hypericum, and raise the possibility that its pharmacological mechanism of action may be similar to that of conventional antidepressant medication.
ISSN:0033-3158
1432-2072
DOI:10.1007/s002130050718