Posted by Mistermindmasta on December 1, 2004, at 14:06:06
In reply to Re: fatigue and interleukin 6 » TenMan, posted by Larry Hoover on November 30, 2004, at 12:11:51
> > \
> > > St. John's Wort also antagonises the effects of IL-6.
> >
> >
> > I was just about to post the same thing on my St. Johns Wort question thread to Larry.
> >
> > I found this study last night along with an older one.
> >
> > http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=15303261
> >
> > I can't tell it the study implies the doses needed for this is very large or if a normal dose will do the trick. Maybe you can have a look?
>
> I'm a little surprised that an inhibitor that is active at picomolar concentrations does not have activity at normal physiological concentration as from typical treatment doses.
>
> From looking at the history of this research team, they've shown that IL-6 release is inhibited by SJW extracts in vitro, and they further narrowed that activity down to the hyperforin content. It does no look like they've shown that IL-6 will actually be inhibited from normal oral dosing. It's pretty strongly suggestive, though.
>
> Lar
>Yeah, it's hard to say. One other thing that I wanted to point out is that as I recall, SJW seemed especially useful for the physical illness part of depression, as opposed to just the mental symptoms. I believe this is called a Somatoform Disorder. Maybe the reason (purely speculation) that STW seems to be good for Somatoform Disorder is because of the interleukin relationship.
From the Merck Manual about Somatoform disorders: "A group of psychiatric disorders characterized by physical symptoms that suggest but are not fully explained by a physical disorder and that cause significant distress or interfere with social, occupational, or other functioning."
The following study is titled:
St John's wort extract (LI 160) in somatoform disorders: results of a placebo-controlled trial.
Volz HP, Murck H, Kasper S, Moller HJ.
Psychiatric Department, University of Jena, Philosophenweg 3, 07740 Jena, Germany, volz
Here's the conlusion:
"CONCLUSION. The data from this trial show excellent efficacy and tolerability for LI 160 in somatoform disorders. The efficacy is independent of an existing depressive mood. This is the first study showing the efficacy of a drug in patients with somatisation disorder independent of depressive symptomatology."
Yeah, so what I get out of this is that SJW is good for sickness association with depression. I think we're on the right track here...
poster:Mistermindmasta
thread:421739
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/alter/20041123/msgs/422920.html