Effects of St. John's Wort on the Effectiveness of Oral Contraceptives

National Institutes of Health (NIH)

Status: Completed

Conditions: Contraception

Treatments: Drug: hypericum perforatum

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: NIH

Identifiers

NCT00026013

R21AT000836-01

Details and patient eligibility

About

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effects of a common herbal remedy, St. John's Wort, on the effectiveness of birth control pills. St. John's Wort has recently been shown to increase metabolism of some drugs. If it could increase metabolism of oral contraceptives as well, it may increase the risk of contraceptive failure and unintended pregnancy. Study participants will be evaluated for risk of ovulation on oral contraceptives before and during simultaneous therapy with St. John's Wort.

Full description

See Brief Summary

Sex: Female

Ages: 18 to 40 years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion and exclusion criteria

Inclusion Criteria:

• Women taking or willing to take low dose oral contraceptives for 5 months
• No contraindications to hormonal contraception

Trial design

Primary purpose: Treatment

Allocation: Non-Randomized

Interventional model: Single Group Assignment

Masking: Single Blind