Treatment of Major Depression With St. John's Wort (Hypericum)
Public ClinicalTrials.gov record NCT00005013. Field values are reproduced from the official study page; the official ClinicalTrials.gov record remains the source of truth for eligibility, enrollment, and contact information.
Data is sourced from official ClinicalTrials.gov public API records. Always review the official ClinicalTrials.gov record for the latest information.
Official title
A Placebo Controlled Clinical Trial of a Standardized Extract of Hypericum Perforatum in Major Depressive Disorder
Brief summary
Reproduced verbatim from the official ClinicalTrials.gov record. Not medical advice.
The purpose of this trial is to study the acute efficacy and safety of a standardized extract of the herb Hypericum perforatum (St. John's Wort), called hypericum for purposes of this trial, in the treatment of patients with major depression. Clinical depression is a serious medical disorder that can be debilitating and can lead to suicide. There is growing public interest in claims that hypericum may be an effective treatment for depression. Although it is widely prescribed in Europe, no studies of its long-term use have been conducted, and published studies have treated different types of patients and have used several different doses. The toxicity and side effects of hypericum appear to be substantially less than those of standard tricyclic antidepressant medications, and thus hypericum may be more acceptable to patients. In addition, the cost is significantly less than standard antidepressant medications. Published studies assessed acute efficacy and lasted between 4 and 12 weeks (most being 4-6 weeks). The longer-term effects of hypericum have not been evaluated. There is a need for a large-scale, controlled clinical trial to assess whether Hypericum has a significant therapeutic effect in patients with clinical depression. Patients are assigned randomly (like tossing a coin) to receive St. John's wort, Sertraline (Zoloft), or a placebo (sugar pill) for 8 weeks. This is a double-blind study, meaning neither the patient nor the doctor will know which treatment is being assigned. Patients who respond well to the treatment will continue on the assigned treatment for an additional 4 months. Patients will have regular follow-up visits to monitor their symptoms and any side effects they experience.
Study identification
- NCT ID
- NCT00005013
- Recruitment status
- Completed
- Study type
- Interventional
- Phase
- Not applicable
- Enrollment
- Not listed
Conditions and interventions
Conditions
Eligibility (public fields only)
- Age range
- 18 Years and older
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- Healthy volunteers not accepted
This page does not interpret eligibility. Detailed inclusion and exclusion criteria are on the official ClinicalTrials.gov record.
Study timeline
- Start date
- Nov 30, 1998
- Primary completion
- Not listed
- Completion
- Jun 30, 2001
- Last update posted
- Apr 7, 2014
1998 – 2001
United States locations
- U.S. sites
- 12
- U.S. states
- 10
- U.S. cities
- 12
| Facility | City | State | ZIP | Site status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feighner Research Institute | San Diego | California | 92121 | — |
| Stanford Univ School of Medicine | Stanford | California | 94305 | — |
| Harbor-UCLA Rsch and Education Inst | Torrance | California | 90502 | — |
| Univ of South Florida College of Med | Tampa | Florida | 33613 | — |
| Emory Mood and Anxiety Disorders Clinical Trials Program | Atlanta | Georgia | 30329 | — |
| McLean Hospital | Belmont | Massachusetts | 02478 | — |
| Eastside Comprehensive Medical Services | New York | New York | 10021 | — |
| Duke Univ Med Ctr | Durham | North Carolina | 27710 | — |
| Univ of Cincinnati Medical Ctr | Cincinnati | Ohio | 45267 | — |
| Univ of Texas Southwestern Med Ctr | Dallas | Texas | 75235 | — |
| Seattle Clinical Research Center | Seattle | Washington | 98104 | — |
| Dean Foundation for Hlth Rsch and Education | Middleton | Wisconsin | 53562 | — |
Site contact phone numbers, emails, and investigator names are intentionally not displayed here. Open the official ClinicalTrials.gov record for site contact information.
About this trial record page
- What this page shows
- Public field values for ClinicalTrials.gov record NCT00005013, including study identification, conditions, interventions, eligibility (age, sex, healthy volunteer), timeline, and U.S. site list.
- What this page does not do
- No medical advice, eligibility judgments, treatment recommendations, study quality scoring, or AI-generated medical summaries. No site contact phone numbers, emails, or investigator names.
- Where the data comes from
- Sourced from the official ClinicalTrials.gov public API. The official record is the source of truth.
- Last refresh
- Last update posted Apr 7, 2014 · Synced Sep 5, 2026
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Open the official record
The complete protocol, eligibility criteria, and contact information for NCT00005013 live on ClinicalTrials.gov.