There aren’t any clinical reports of drug interactions with lemon balm. However, it has the following theoretical drug interactions:[1][2][3]
| Drug or class | Potential Interaction | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Sedatives | May increase sedation | Pre-clinical and initial human research |
| Barbiturates | May increase hypnotic (sleep-inducing) effect | Animal studies |
| Drugs that enhance or inhibit cholinergic activity | Binds to muscarinic and nicotinic receptors receptors (clinical relevance not determined and effect likely varied) | In vitro research[4] |
| Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) | May reduce effectiveness | In vitro research |
| Thyroid hormone replacement | May reduce effectiveness | In vitro and animal research |
Additionally, there’s in vitro evidence that one component of lemon balm, rosmarinic acid, may inhibit some of the enzymes also used to process drugs: cytochrome P450 (CYP450) enzymes CYP2C19 and CYP2E1, and UDP-glucuronosyltransferases (UGTs) UGT1A1, UGT1A6, and UGT2B7. This could theoretically affect the metabolism of any prescription drugs processed by these enzymes, although there have been no reports of this to date.[5][3]
References
- ^Ulbricht C, Brendler T, Gruenwald J, Kligler B, Keifer D, Abrams TR, Woods J, Boon H, Kirkwood CD, Hackman DA, Basch E, Lafferty HJ, Natural Standard Research CollaborationLemon balm (Melissa officinalis L.): an evidence-based systematic review by the Natural Standard Research Collaboration.J Herb Pharmacother.(2005)
- ^Posadzki P, Watson L, Ernst EHerb-drug interactions: an overview of systematic reviews.Br J Clin Pharmacol.(2013 Mar)
- ^Draginic N, Jakovljevic V, Andjic M, Jeremic J, Srejovic I, Rankovic M, Tomovic M, Nikolic Turnic T, Svistunov A, Bolevich S, Milosavljevic IMelissa officinalis L. as a Nutritional Strategy for Cardioprotection.Front Physiol.(2021)
- ^Kennedy DO, Wake G, Savelev S, Tildesley NT, Perry EK, Wesnes KA, Scholey ABModulation of mood and cognitive performance following acute administration of single doses of Melissa officinalis (Lemon balm) with human CNS nicotinic and muscarinic receptor-binding propertiesNeuropsychopharmacology.(2003 Oct)
- ^Kim SB, Kim KS, Kim DD, Yoon ISMetabolic interactions of rosmarinic acid with human cytochrome P450 monooxygenases and uridine diphosphate glucuronosyltransferases.Biomed Pharmacother.(2019 Feb)