Malaysian traditional herbs: CYP-herb interaction from the perspective of CYP3A4 inhibition / Syaza Zuhairah Suhaimi

The use of vitamins and herbal supplements has spread over the nation vastly among the population, with the primary factor being to manage the side effects of drugs or to improve overall physical and mental health. The active ingredients of a single herb may exhibit some degree of pharmacological effects, which may be the inhibitory or inducing to the chemical components of an allopathic medicine (Miller, 1998). The purpose of the study is to identify potential herb-drug interactions between 56 local herbs and allopathic medicines by looking at the activity of cytochrome P450 3A4 (CYP3A4). This study was conducted on 56 Malaysian traditional herbs using Invitrogen CYP3A4 Screening Kit (lnvitrogen Corp., USA). Data were gathered and analysed, from the results obtained, it was found that 17 herbs showed positive inhibition on CYP3A4 activity, while 49 herbs showed no inhibition towards the activity of CYP3A4. The study also revealed that positive inhibition of CYP3A4 activity may consequently affect the metabolism of concomitant drug intake which are the substrates of CYP3A4 and may cause prolonged effect of drug and also drug-induced toxicity. Based on the study some recommendations on further assessment of the herbs are put forward in the final section of this paper.