Symptom → Plant Sources
Perforate St John’s-wort (Hypericum perforatum) as a tool for helping with Insomnia / sleeplessness
inferred from sedative action
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Full Perforate St John’s-wort monograph →All plants for insomnia / sleeplessness →
2 sources supporting Perforate St John’s-wort for Insomnia / sleeplessness. Includes scientific publications, books, monographs and traditional-use references.
Mechanistic basis
This use is associated with the plant's sedative / sleep support action. Further evidence for that pharmacology:
This comprehensive review of Hypericum perforatum (St John's wort) covers its traditional uses, clinical trials and drug interactions, with its constituents hyperforin and hypericin acting as antidepressant, wound-healing and antibacterial agents.
A meta-analysis of 27 clinical trials (3808 patients) comparing St John's wort (Hypericum perforatum) with SSRIs in depression. St John's wort demonstrated comparable response and remission rates and significantly lower discontinuation/dropout than standard SSRIs, supporting comparable efficacy and safety for mild-to-moderate depression; evidence on long-term efficacy and use in severe depression remains limited.
St. John's wort (Hypericum perforatum) contains bioactive molecules including hyperforin and hypericin and has therapeutic effects on depression and other mood/psychiatric disorders. This review discusses the role of St John's wort in modulating depression with respect to neurotransmitter systems in the brain, concluding that it induces complex, sometimes inconsistent effects on neurotransmitter levels, with glutamate and acetylcholine highlighted for future study.
Hypericum perforatum attenuated depressive behaviour in mice by regulating the gut bacterium Akkermansia muciniphila, tryptophan metabolism and the NF-kB-NLRP2-Caspase1-IL1beta inflammatory pathway, linking its antidepressant and anti-inflammatory actions.
This review discusses the antidepressant mechanism of Hypericum perforatum, identifying hyperforin as the main active principle acting via inhibition of synaptic neurotransmitter re-uptake.
This review covers the pharmacokinetics of the active ingredients of Hypericum perforatum, the only herbal alternative to synthetic antidepressants for mild-to-moderate depression.
This review of clinical studies of Hypericum perforatum (St John's wort) found it effective compared with placebo for mild-to-moderate depression, with good tolerability.
This review of the experimental and clinical pharmacology of Hypericum perforatum describes its action on serotonin, noradrenaline and dopamine re-uptake systems relevant to antidepressant activity.
This review presents Hypericum perforatum as a source of neuroactive lead structures, focusing on hyperforin and hypericin and their contribution to the antidepressant activity of St John's wort.