Interactions with Hawthorn

Although hawthorn reportedly potentiates the activity of digoxin (Mashour et al. 1998; Miller 1998), case reports of clinically significant interactions have not been cited in the literature.

Phenylephrine

In rat mesenteric artery, hawthorn fruit alcoholic extract counteracted the effects of phenylephrine, a vasoconstrictive agent (Chen et al. 1993). The extract completely inhibited the contraction induced by phenylephrine at a concentration of 1 micromole. The clinical relevance of these experimental findings is unknown at this time.

References

Chen ZY, Zhang ZS, Kwan KY, et al: Endothelium-dependent relaxation induced by hawthorn extract in rat mesenteric artery. Life Sci. 1993;63(22):1983-1991.

Mashour NH, Lin GI, Frishman WH. Herbal medicine for the treatment of cardiovascular disease. Arch Intern Med. 1998;158:2225-2234.

Miller LG. Herbal medicinals: selected clinical considerations focusing on known or potential drug-herb interactions. Arch Intern Med. 1998;158(20):2200-2211.

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