The antidepressant effect of combined extracts of Hypericum perforatum and Echium amoenum supplementation in patients with depression symptoms: A randomized clinical trial

Document Type : Short communication

Authors

1 Department of Psychiatry, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, Iran

2 Barij Medicinal Plants Research Center, Kashan, Iran

3 Social Determinants of Health Research Center, Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, Iran

4 Research Center for Biochemistry and Nutrition in Metabolic Disease, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, Iran

10.22038/ajp.2023.21707

Abstract

Objective: Echium amoenum and Hypericum perforatum dried flowers have been used for therapy of mental disorders in Iranian traditional medicine. In this study, we assessed the efficacy of the E. amoenum and H. perforatum extracts in patients with mild to moderate depression.
Materials and Methods: In an 8-week double-blind, parallel-group trial, 51 patients randomly consumed 20 mg of fluoxetine or 350 mg of herbal medicine twice daily. The Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HAM-D) was used to assess depression severity in patients at weeks 0, 4, and 8.
Results: According to the Hamilton score, there were no significant differences between the fluoxetine- and herbal medicine-treated groups after 4 and 8 weeks (p>0.05). Dry mouth was the only reported side effect which was significantly lower in the herbal group (p<0.05) in weeks 2 and 4.
Conclusion: E. amoenum and H. perforatum have anti-depressant properties similar to fluoxetine and they can be used to treat depression as an alternative to fluoxetine.

Keywords

Avicenna Journal of Phytomedicine
Volume 13, Issue 4
July and August 2023
Pages 328-337

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