Herb-Drug Interactions from A to Z: A Guide for Health Care Professionals and the Public Volume 2

This volume provides information about herb-drug interactions that may arise as a result of the increasing interest in medicinal plants or herbal products and the concomitant use of conventional drugs. Medicinal plant-drug interactions are inevitable, especially when the elderly use medicinal plant products in addition to polypharmacy. Concurrent consumption of herbal products and conventional drugs is a serious concern. Over-the-counter herbal drug’s doses can inhibit the metabolism of conventional drugs, increasing plasma levels of the drug. This book highlights evidence on herb-drug interactions from a systematic review, providing rapid access to information on their clinical use.

Key Features

• Includes information on the interactions of selected medicinal plants with the conventional drugs that are used concurrently.
• Numerous evidence-based resources are available to clinicians on the safe use of herbal products.
• Provides general information about the pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic interaction mechanisms of medicinal plants and herbal products that are used concurrently with conventional medicines.
• Since medicinal plants and herbal products contain many bioactive compounds, interactions with conventional drugs are covered here to assist clinicians with patient safety.
• Focuses on the chemical constituents and their basic chemical structures of the medicinal plant parts used in folk medicine.

Prof. Dr. L. Ömür Demirezer

She was graduated from Ankara University (Türkiye), Faculty of Pharmacy in 1979. Master of Science degree was completed in 1985 at Hacettepe University (Türkiye), Faculty of Pharmacy, Department of Pharmacognosy, PhD degree was received in Pharmaceutical Biology from J.W. Goethe University (Germany), Faculty of Pharmacy in 1991. She completed her other academic stages at Hacettepe University, Faculty of Pharmacy, Department of Pharmacognosy and became a full professor degree in 2002. In 1998, she was a researcher at Georg-August University (Germany) Göttingen. From 1999 to 2000, she was a visiting lecturer at the Faculty of Pharmacy, at the University of Leipzig (Germany). There are 8 doctoral and 7 master's theses completed under her supervision. She has many published articles, reviews, books, book chapters, and congress proceedings on quality control of medicinal plants, isolation of drug candidate molecules, determination of their structures, medicinal effects, phytotherapy, and aromatherapy. She has been by taking part in 26 research projects supported by various organizations. She served as the Dean of the Faculty, Head of the Department of Pharmacognosy, and President of the Pharmacognosy and Phytotherapy Association. She worked as a member of the Turkish Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Agency Traditional Herbal Medicinal Product Review and Evaluation Commission, Pharmaceutical Industry Technical Committee, Turkish Pharmacopoeia Natural Products Working Group and Director of Hacettepe University Traditional and Complementary Medicine Research and Application Center. Since 2011, she has been a member of European Pharmacopoeia EDQM 13/B Experts Group. She is a member of the editorial board of the two scientific journals Phytomedicine and Phytomedicine plus. She retired from Hacettepe University Faculty of Pharmacy on October 10, 2024. She is currently the head of the Department of Pharmacognosy at Girne American University, Faculty of Pharmacy in Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus and continues to conduct educational and research activities.

Prof. Dr. Tayfun Ersöz

He was graduated from Hacettepe University (Türkiye), Faculty of Pharmacy in 1980. He received his Master of Science degree in 1984 and his Ph. D. degree in 1988 from Hacettepe University, Faculty of Pharmacy, Department of Pharmacognosy. In 1992, he was appointed as Assistant Professor and became an Associate Professor in the same year. He received his full professor degree in 2002 He also served as the vice chairman of H.U. Faculty of Pharmacy, Division of Pharmaceutical Professional Sciences (2000-2003) and chairman of the same division (2003-2006). Between 2010-2016, he worked as a member of the Turkish Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Agency Traditional Herbal Medicinal Product Review and Evaluation Commission. Since 2003, he has served as a member of the board of directors, scientific board or supervisory board of the Pharmacognosy and Phytotherapy Association (FFD). He is currently a member of the supervisory board of the same association. Isolation and structure elucidation of active ingredients from medicinal plants, as well as their medicinal effects are his main scientific research interests. He has published several scientific articles on medicinal plant research and books on phytotherapy and aromatherapy. He was retired in March 2016 and studied at the European University of Lefke, Faculty of Pharmacy in Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. Since 2020, he has been serving as an Advisory Editorial Board Member of the Scientific Committee of the European Scientific Cooperative on Phytotherapy (ESCOP).

Prof. Dr. Bilge Sener

She was graduated from Ankara University (Türkiye), Faculty of Pharmacy in 1974 with her First B.Sc. degree and completed her Ph.D. awarded by the Turkish Scientific and Technological Research Council (TUBITAK) at the Department of Pharmacognosy in 1977. In 1981, she was promoted to Associate Professor. In 1982, she has got an invitation to the establishment of Department of Pharmacognosy, Faculty of Pharmacy, Gazi University. She was awarded by National Science Foundation as visiting scientist for research in the field of isoquinoline alkaloids at the Dept. of Chemistry, The Pennsylvania State Univ. (USA) between 1986 and 1988. She returned and became a professor in 1988. She has also spent three months as a guest professor at Kobe Womens College of Pharmacy and Osaka University, Japan by JSPS program. Prof. Sener was involved in several administrative positions at Gazi University including Head of the Department of Pharmacognosy, Chair at the Division of the Professional Sciences of Pharmacy, Deputy Director of the Institute of Health Sciences and the Dean at the Faculty of Pharmacy then she has served as a senator at Gazi University. She has also co-adviser for 19 Ph.D. students at HEJ Research Institute of Chemistry, Karachi Univ. (Pakistan) by TWAS South-South Fellowship program. She has served as chair and member of various associations and sections (IUAPC, PCMD, ICNPR), and as Turkish delegate to the European Pharmacopoeia. She worked as a member of the Turkish Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Agency Traditional Herbal Medicinal Product Review and Evaluation Commission. She has 23 books, 10 of them belonged to phytotherapy and aromatherapy; supervised 7 Ph.D. and 16 MSc. theses (Gazi Univesity); 48 projects, 7 of them supported by international organizations; published 255 scientific articles in peer-reviewed journals along with 283 presentations at the international symposia. She was retired on July 23th, 2020 from Gazi University. She has been continuing to give Ph.D. courses at the ICCBS-Karachi and supervise MSc. and Ph.D. thesis.

Prof. Dr. Ayse Kuruüzüm-Uz

Prof. Ayse Kuruüzüm-Uz is working as an academic staff at the Department of Pharmacognosy, Faculty of Pharmacy, Hacettepe University. She graduated from Hacettepe University (Türkiye), Faculty of Pharmacy in 1992. In 1994, she was appointed as a research assistant in the Pharmacognosy Department, Faculty of Pharmacy, H.U. She completed her Master's degree in 1996 and her Doctorate in 1999. She was appointed as Associate Professor in 2004 and Professor in 2010 in the field of Pharmacognosy. She has conducted research and participated in training on the phytochemical and biological activity studies of medicinal plants and phytotherapy in the field of Pharmacognosy. She conducted a postdoctoral research at Georg August University in Germany. She received a Ph.D. scholarship from the Scientific and Technical Research Council of Turkey (TÜBITAK-BAYG), and was awarded the 2003-2004 Hacettepe University Encouragement Award in Science. She took part place in the "Natural Products Working Group" in the preparation of the Turkish Pharmacopoeia which was published by the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Türkiye in 2017. She served as a member of the Turkish Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Agency Traditional Herbal Medicinal Product Review and Evaluation Commission. She served as the Deputy Director of Hacettepe University Traditional and Complementary Medicine Research and Application Center. Prof. Ayse Kuruüzüm-Uz is a member of some international and national societies on Pharmacognosy. She has served as a secretary and member of the association manager group of the National Pharmacognosy Societies. She has many articles, reviews, book chapters and congress proceedings published in national and international journals. She has been by taking part in 18 research projects supported by various organizations. She is currently the head of the Department of Pharmacognosy at Hacettepe University Faculty of Pharmacy and continues to conduct educational and research activities.