ArticleNeuropsychiatric disease and treatment2016
A meta-analysis on the efficacy and safety of St John's wort extract in depression therapy in comparison with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors in adults.
Article in Neuropsychiatric disease and treatment, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 27 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
27 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 51 citations in OpenAlex.
- The application of esketamine in cancer-related depressive states: attention from mechanisms to clinical translation.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2026Pooled it
- Hyperforin as a Multifunctional Specialized Metabolite of Natural Origin for Chronic Diseases: From Molecular Mechanisms to Clinical Translation.Current issues in molecular biology · 2026Review
- St John's Wort (Complementary medicine research · 2025Observational
- The neurobiology of plant-based therapeutics in women's reproductive health: mechanisms, efficacy, and clinical translation.Frontiers in nutrition · 2025Review
- Documentary Analysis ofPharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Review
- Catalytic prenyl conjugate additions for synthesis of enantiomerically enriched PPAPs.Science (New York, N.Y.) · 2024Article
- Role of ginsenoside Rb1 in attenuating depression-like symptoms through astrocytic and microglial complement C3 pathway.Metabolic brain disease · 2024Article
- Effects of Geometric Sound on Brainwave Activity Patterns, Autonomic Nervous System Markers, Emotional Response, and Faraday Wave Pattern Morphology.Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM · 2024Article
- A review of the WHO strategy on traditional, complementary, and integrative medicine from the perspective of academic consortia for integrative medicine and health.Frontiers in medicine · 2024Review
- #TreatmentResistantDepression: A qualitative content analysis of Tweets about difficult-to-treat depression.Health expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy · 2023Review
- Exercise for Mental Well-Being: Exploring Neurobiological Advances and Intervention Effects in Depression.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Review
- Immunological evaluation of herbal extracts commonly used for treatment of mental diseases during pregnancy.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- Depression and Its Phytopharmacotherapy-A Narrative Review.International journal of molecular sciences · 2023Review
- Review
- Medicinal Plants for the Treatment of Mental Diseases in Pregnancy: An In Vitro Safety Assessment.Planta medica · 2022Article
- Review
- St. John's wort (Hypericum perforatum) and depression: what happens to the neurotransmitter systems?Naunyn-Schmiedeberg's archives of pharmacology · 2022Review
- Phytotherapy in Integrative Oncology-An Update of Promising Treatment Options.Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Review
- AdvancedFrontiers in pharmacology · 2022Article
- Potential Mechanisms of Shu Gan Jie Yu Capsule in the Treatment of Mild to Moderate Depression Based on Systemic Pharmacology and Current Evidence.Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveThe aim of the study was to investigate the efficacy and safety of St John's wort extract and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) in the treatment of depression.
methodsDatabases were searched for studies comparing efficacy and/or safety of St John's wort extract with SSRIs in depression from 1966 to April 2015. Stata software was used for statistical analysis.
resultsTwenty-seven studies met the study entry criteria. A total of 3,126 patients with depression were included. St John's wort extract did not differ from SSRIs in clinical response, remission, and mean reduction in Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression score. St John's wort extract had a significantly lower rate of adverse events compared to SSRIs (summary relative risk: 0.77; 95% confidence interval: 0.70, 0.84, P=0.00) and had fewer withdrawals due to adverse events. St John's wort extract had superior safety in the management of patients with depression.
conclusionBoth St John's wort extract and SSRIs are effective in treating mild-to-moderate depression. St John's wort extract is safer than SSRIs.
Indexed as
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.