NIH Reacts to Herbal Concerns
-NCCAM intends to commit approximately $4.3 million in 2001 for 15 grants-

---

WASHINGTON, D.C., September 7, 2000—The federal government has responded to numerous concerns about the potential risk of herbal products interacting with prescription drugs, which have been articulated in scientific journals and by the popular press. To help resolve these concerns, the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has announced that it will support research addressing botanical-drug interactions.

NCCAM has published a request for applications (RFA) for research projects that will investigate potentially adverse combinations of botanical products and prescription or over-the-counter drugs. The studies are expected to help predict the effects of botanicals on drug action and metabolism.

NCCAM intends to commit approximately $4.3 million in 2001 for 15 grants in response to this RFA. The size of each grant will vary, according the nature and scope of the research proposal. Details of the RFA can be found on the NCCAM website (http://nccam.nih.gov) or the following direct link: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/rfa-files/RFA-AT-00-004.html.

John Cardellina, Ph.D., vice president of botanical science and regulatory affairs at the Council for Responsible Nutrition, remarked, "The NCCAM-funded research will help build a strong foundation of knowledge on which to base decisions regarding drug-botanical combinations. However, this is just the tip of a multifaceted iceberg. Additional funds should be allocated to explore drug-food interactions."

It is estimated that 15 million adults are at risk for potential drug-dietary supplement interactions. These combinations may be adverse if the drug’s effectiveness is reduced or its potency is boosted by the interaction. Either scenario places the consumer at potential risk. The best example involves reports of St. John’s wort reducing the effectiveness of a protease inhibitors prescribed for HIV patients and cyclosporin prescribed for organ transplant patients.

Until research further unravels the complexities of drug interactions, consumers who take prescription drugs are reminded to tell their healthcare provider about their use of dietary supplements. A good source of current information on drug-botanical interactions is PubMed, available through the National Library of Medicine website (www.nlm.nih.gov). PubMed is a searchable database of biomedical literature, and provides free summaries of peer-reviewed research.