Although there are no known drug interactions with maca, a comprehensive drug interaction study has not been conducted. In vitro evidence suggests that aqueous and ethanolic maca extracts have some estrogenic activity.[1] However, it is unclear if this estrogenic activity translates to humans. Some clinical research suggests that gelatinized maca increases estradiol levels compared to placebo, while other clinical research shows no effect on hormone levels.[2] [3] Therefore, it’s unknown whether maca might interfere with hormonal drug therapy. Maca does not seem to have the potential to affect drug metabolism through the liver. An in vitro screening study did not find that maca extracts are likely to inhibit or induce cytochrome P450 enzymes in the liver, but further research is needed to confirm these findings.[4]
References
- ^Valentová K, Buckiová D, Kren V, Peknicová J, Ulrichová J, Simánek VThe in vitro biological activity of Lepidium meyenii extracts.Cell Biol Toxicol.(2006-Mar)
- ^Lee MS, Shin BC, Yang EJ, Lim HJ, Ernst EMaca (Lepidium meyenii) for treatment of menopausal symptoms: A systematic review.Maturitas.(2011-Nov)
- ^Stojanovska L, Law C, Lai B, Chung T, Nelson K, Day S, Apostolopoulos V, Haines CMaca reduces blood pressure and depression, in a pilot study in postmenopausal womenClimacteric.(2015 Feb)
- ^Zhang Y, Rants'o TA, Jung D, Lopez E, Abbott K, Pondugula SR, McLendon L, Qian J, Hansen RA, Calderón AIScreening for CYP3A4 inhibition and induction coupled to parallel artificial membrane permeability assay (PAMPA) for prediction of botanical-drug interactions: The case of açaí and maca.Phytomedicine.(2019-Jun)