Glycyrrhiza glabra · PhytoNexus

01 Identity and provenance

Accepted binomial: Glycyrrhiza glabra
Common names: Licorice
Family (APG IV): Fabaceae
Part used: Root
Verification tier: Tier 2 · Verified Clinical columns reviewed and a source is on record.
Reviewer note (2026 audit): Reference not supplied - claim unverified against primary literature.

02 Constituent chemistry

Chemical class	Marker compound	Synthetic analogue in use
Glycyrrhizin, glycyrrhetinic acid	Glycyrrhizin Root	Carbenoxolone

The analogue column is what makes the interaction reasoning tractable: where a constituent has a marketed structural counterpart, the counterpart's interaction profile is the starting hypothesis for the plant.

Looking up structures and physicochemical properties from PubChem…

03 Stated application

Reported activity: Antiulcer, Anti inflammatory , Expectorant
Marketed in: Himalaya koflet,
Glycyrrhiza capsule
Reported adverse effects: Hypertension,
Muscle weakness, edema

04 Interaction matrix

Source column, verbatim: diuretics corticosteroids, Anti-hypertensive
Normalised onto 3 canonical drug classes below.

Curated from the reviewed source

Drug class	Severity	Mechanism type	Provenance	Expected effect
Antihypertensives Cardiovascular	3Major	PD-additive	curated B	Orthostatic hypotension, dizziness, syncope and falls; or loss of blood-p…	why ▾
Chemistry of this pair. Glycyrrhetinic acid inhibits renal 11-beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 2, allowing cortisol to act at the mineralocorticoid receptor. Class mechanism. Vasodilator, diuretic, ACE-inhibitory and calcium-antagonist activity in botanical extracts adds to prescribed blood-pressure lowering. A minority (ephedrine-, glycyrrhizin- and caffeine-bearing) act in the opposite direction and antagonise control. Expected Orthostatic hypotension, dizziness, syncope and falls; or loss of blood-pressure control with pressor botanicals. Management Home BP log for 2 weeks after any change. Warn about postural symptoms; review in the elderly and in those on multiple agents. Onset rapid Evidence B - reviewed clinical column, source pending Matched on “anti-hypertensive” Find evidence for this pair Map this mechanism
Corticosteroids Endocrine	3Major	PD-additive + PK-CYP3A4	curated B	Pseudohyperaldosteronism: hypertension, hypokalaemia, oedema, myopathy; C…	why ▾
Chemistry of this pair. Glycyrrhetinic acid inhibits renal 11-beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 2, allowing cortisol to act at the mineralocorticoid receptor. Class mechanism. Glycyrrhizin inhibits 11-beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 2 and prolongs cortisol half-life, potentiating mineralocorticoid effect. Anthraquinone laxatives compound steroid-driven potassium loss, and CYP3A4 inhibition raises systemic corticosteroid exposure. Expected Pseudohyperaldosteronism: hypertension, hypokalaemia, oedema, myopathy; Cushingoid features at unchanged steroid dose. Management Restrict licorice-containing products. Check potassium and blood pressure. Reduce steroid dose if features of excess appear. Onset rapid Evidence B - reviewed clinical column, source pending Matched on “corticosteroids” Find evidence for this pair Map this mechanism
Diuretics Renal	3Major	PD-additive + electrolyte-mediated	curated B	Hypokalaemia, hyponatraemia, dehydration, muscle weakness, cramps, arrhyt…	why ▾
Chemistry of this pair. Glycyrrhetinic acid inhibits renal 11-beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 2, allowing cortisol to act at the mineralocorticoid receptor. Class mechanism. Aquaretic and saluretic botanicals add to renal potassium and sodium loss. Anthraquinone laxatives compound this through colonic potassium loss, and glycyrrhizin causes mineralocorticoid-like retention of sodium with kaliuresis. Expected Hypokalaemia, hyponatraemia, dehydration, muscle weakness, cramps, arrhythmia; potentiation of digoxin toxicity through low potassium. Management Check potassium, sodium and creatinine 1-2 weeks after starting. Avoid the combination entirely in patients also on digoxin. Onset rapid Evidence B - reviewed clinical column, source pending Matched on “diuretics corticosteroids” Find evidence for this pair Map this mechanism

Predicted from constituent chemistry

These edges are not clinical findings. Each one is a rule inference: a constituent class in this plant is known to act on a target that the drug class also acts on. They are shown because a blank cell reads as “safe”, and for a Tier 1 entry a blank cell only means “not yet looked at”. Treat them as a literature-search agenda, not as a warning.

Drug class	Severity	Mechanism type	Provenance	Expected effect
Antiarrhythmics Cardiovascular	4Contraindicated	PD-additive + electrolyte-mediated	predicted D	Proarrhythmia, QT prolongation, torsade de pointes, ventricular arrhythmi…	why ▾
Chemistry of this pair. Glycyrrhetinic acid inhibits renal 11-beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 2, allowing cortisol to act at the mineralocorticoid receptor. Class mechanism. Botanicals that shift potassium or magnesium, block sodium or potassium channels, or prolong repolarisation add to class I and class III antiarrhythmic effects on an already unstable myocardium. Expected Proarrhythmia, QT prolongation, torsade de pointes, ventricular arrhythmia. Management Avoid. If unavoidable, baseline and follow-up ECG with QTc measurement plus potassium and magnesium correction. Onset rapid Evidence D - in silico rule prediction only Find evidence for this pair Map this mechanism

05 Hazard register

The audit recorded no hazard beyond the interaction profile. The controlled-vocabulary field reads not assessed, which means the assessment has not been done rather than that it came back clear.

06 Confusable material

No same-genus or shared-common-name entry in the corpus.

07 Mechanism map

Chemistry sorts to the left, pharmacology to the right. Dashed edges are predicted. Drag nodes, scroll to zoom, export at 3× for a figure.

species

chemical class

marker compound

drug class

expected effect

hazard

08 Open literature

Abstract-scoped query built from this binomial, its common names and its marker compounds, run live against Europe PMC, PubMed and OpenAlex, then ranked locally against an evidence hierarchy.

Checking openFDA spontaneous reports…

09 Isomechanistic neighbours

Species whose interaction profile overlaps this one, ranked by shared severity weight rather than by count — a shared contraindication counts for more than a shared minor signal. Practical use: these are the plants you should not stack with this one, because the mechanisms summate.

Species	Family	Shared classes	Jaccard
Senna alexandrina Senna	Fabaceae	3	0.23
Calotropis procera Aak	Apocynaceae	3	0.60
Calotropis gigantea Safed Aak	Apocynaceae	3	0.60
Aloe barbadensis Mill Aloe Vera	Asphodelaceae	3	0.30
Rubia cordifolia Manjistha	Rubiaceae	3	0.25
Digitalis purpurea Foxglove	Plantaginaceae	2	0.40

10 References and notes

No citation is on record for this entry. That is itself the finding: the audit flagged it, and it is why the entry does not carry an A evidence grade.

Curator notes

No notes yet.

Sign in to add notes and save monographs.