Article: Women's health update: St. John's wort and oral contraceptives.

Over the last five to ten years, a few rare case reports and a short list of published research have brought to light the possibility that St. John's wort may interfere with oral contraceptive (OC) pills. The main issue is that St. John's Wort induces cytochrome P450 (CYP) enzymes, and therefore may alter the pharmacokinetics of the estrogen and/or progestin and result in a reduction of their contraceptive efficacy.

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Two reports have shown breakthrough bleeding and spotting with co-administration of St. John's wort and DCs. (1), (2) Three studies have indicated an adverse interaction between St. John's wort and OCs. St. John's wort ...

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