Sambucus nigra · PhytoNexus

01 Identity and provenance

Accepted binomial: Sambucus nigra
Common names: Elderberry
Family (APG IV): Adoxaceae
Part used: Fruit, Flower
Verification tier: Tier 2 · Verified Clinical columns reviewed and a source is on record.
Reviewer note (2026 audit): PMC10489118 (anti-inflammatory and anticancer properties of S. nigra) | PMC7961730 (LC-MS/MS cyanogenic glycoside analysis) | Monterey County outbreak, MMWR 1984 | VERIFIED 2026 (batch 7) - synthetic analogue, application, interactions, side effects and references populated from retrieved primary/regulatory sources. Interactions labelled CLINICAL vs THEORETICAL. Marketed-formulation column intentionally blank. | PREPARATION

02 Constituent chemistry

Chemical class	Marker compound	Synthetic analogue in use
Anthocyanins	Cyanidin-3-glucoside Fruit, Flower	No analogue. Anthocyanins and lectins are the studied constituents; sambunigrin is a cyanogenic glycoside, not a therapeutic agent.

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: Standardised fruit extracts have RCT support for reducing duration and severity of influenza A and B symptoms - one of the better-evidenced entries in this database. Flowers used as a diaphoretic.
Reported adverse effects: PREPARATION DETERMINES SAFETY. All raw parts contain cyanogenic glycosides - principally sambunigrin and prunasin - which release hydrogen cyanide on enzymatic hydrolysis. Concentration is highest in leaves, stems, bark, seeds and UNRIPE berries, lowest in ripe fruit, and rises with altitude of cultivation. Raw or improperly processed material causes nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, abdominal cramp, weakness, dizziness; severe cases progress to cyanide toxicity with cyanosis, hypotension, confusion and death. A 1983 cluster in Monterey County, California affected 11 people who drank juice pressed from raw berries. THERMAL PROCESSING WORKS AND IS QUANTIFIED: cyanogenic glycosides fell by 44% in juice, 80% in tea and 96% in liqueur and spread. Raw berries also contain lectins, likewise destroyed by heat. De-stem, de-seed and cook before any internal use.

04 Interaction matrix

Source column, verbatim: CLINICAL: immunostimulant activity (upregulates IL-1beta and TNF-alpha) - caution or avoid with immunosuppressants and after transplant, on the same reasoning as Echinacea and Uncaria.
Normalised onto 1 canonical drug class below.

Curated from the reviewed source

Drug class	Severity	Mechanism type	Provenance	Expected effect
Immunosuppressants (ciclosporin, tacrolimus, mycophenolate) Transplant	4Contraindicated	PK-CYP3A4/P-gp + PD-antagonistic	curated A	Acute graft rejection with inducers; nephrotoxicity, neurotoxicity and hy…	why ▾
Class mechanism. These are narrow-therapeutic-index CYP3A4 and P-glycoprotein substrates. Botanical induction collapses trough levels; inhibition causes toxic accumulation. Immunostimulant botanicals separately oppose the therapeutic goal. Expected Acute graft rejection with inducers; nephrotoxicity, neurotoxicity and hypertension with inhibitors; autoimmune flare with immunostimulants. Management Treat as contraindicated in transplant recipients. Any exposure requires immediate trough level measurement and transplant team notification. Onset unspecified Evidence A - human data with a cited source Matched on “immunosuppressants” 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
Cytotoxic and targeted anticancer drugs Oncology	4Contraindicated	PK-CYP3A4/UGT + PD-antagonistic	predicted D	Neutropenic sepsis and severe diarrhoea from over-exposure, or reduced an…	why ▾
Chemistry of this pair. Flavonoids inhibit CYP3A4, CYP1A2, OATP1B1 and UGT to a variable extent and have measurable antiplatelet activity. Class mechanism. Botanical CYP3A4 and UGT1A1 modulation alters exposure to irinotecan, taxanes, vinca alkaloids and kinase inhibitors. High-dose antioxidant botanicals may also oppose the oxidative mechanism of some cytotoxics and of proteasome inhibitors. Expected Neutropenic sepsis and severe diarrhoea from over-exposure, or reduced antitumour effect; boronic-acid proteasome inhibitors are directly antagonised by polyphenols. Management No botanical should be taken during active cytotoxic therapy without oncology sign-off. Record all supplements in the chemotherapy chart. Onset unspecified Evidence D - in silico rule prediction only Find evidence for this pair Map this mechanism
Narrow-therapeutic-index CYP3A4 substrates Pharmacokinetic	4Contraindicated	PK-CYP3A4	predicted D	Toxic accumulation or subtherapeutic failure of the co-prescribed drug, s…	why ▾
Chemistry of this pair. Flavonoids inhibit CYP3A4, CYP1A2, OATP1B1 and UGT to a variable extent and have measurable antiplatelet activity. Class mechanism. Furanocoumarins, bergamottin, piperine, glabridin and berberine inhibit CYP3A4; hyperforin, andrographolide and several diterpenes induce it through PXR. Because CYP3A4 handles roughly half of marketed drugs, the affected list is broad and the direction is product-specific. Expected Toxic accumulation or subtherapeutic failure of the co-prescribed drug, sometimes fatal for antiarrhythmics, immunosuppressants and oncology agents. Management Screen the full regimen for 3A4 substrates. Where the substrate has a narrow index, avoid rather than monitor. Onset unspecified Evidence D - in silico rule prediction only Find evidence for this pair Map this mechanism
Antiplatelet agents Haemostasis	3Major	PD-additive	predicted D	Prolonged bleeding time, surgical and post-procedural bleeding, bruising,…	why ▾
Chemistry of this pair. Flavonoids inhibit CYP3A4, CYP1A2, OATP1B1 and UGT to a variable extent and have measurable antiplatelet activity. Class mechanism. Organosulfur compounds, gingerols, salicylates, ginkgolides and eugenol inhibit thromboxane A2 synthesis, platelet aggregation and PAF-mediated activation, duplicating the pharmacology of aspirin and P2Y12 blockers. Expected Prolonged bleeding time, surgical and post-procedural bleeding, bruising, haematuria. Management Stop the botanical 7-14 days before elective surgery or neuraxial anaesthesia. Record it on the pre-operative medicines list. Onset rapid Evidence D - in silico rule prediction only Find evidence for this pair Map this mechanism
Statins and lipid-lowering drugs Cardiovascular	2Moderate	PK-CYP3A4/OATP	predicted D	Myalgia, raised creatine kinase, rhabdomyolysis, hepatic transaminase ele…	why ▾
Chemistry of this pair. Flavonoids inhibit CYP3A4, CYP1A2, OATP1B1 and UGT to a variable extent and have measurable antiplatelet activity. Class mechanism. CYP3A4 and OATP1B1 inhibition by furanocoumarin- and flavonoid-rich botanicals raises simvastatin, atorvastatin and lovastatin exposure. Some botanicals themselves contain monacolin K, which is chemically lovastatin. Expected Myalgia, raised creatine kinase, rhabdomyolysis, hepatic transaminase elevation. Management Ask specifically about red-yeast-rice type products. Check CK and ALT if muscle symptoms appear; prefer a non-3A4 statin. Onset unspecified Evidence D - in silico rule prediction only Find evidence for this pair Map this mechanism

05 Hazard register

processing-dependent - Raw and unripe parts release hydrogen cya

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
Hypericum perforatum St. John's Wort	Hypericaceae	5	0.45
Echinacea purpurea Echinacea	Asteraceae	5	0.42
Uncaria tomentosa Cat's Claw	Rubiaceae	4	0.31
Colchicum autumnale Autumn Crocus	Colchicaceae	4	0.67
Pterocarpus marsupium Vijaysar	Fabaceae	4	0.80
Butea monosperma Palash	Fabaceae	4	0.80

10 References and notes

Source column: Senica M et al. J Sci Food Agric 2017 (processing effect on cyanogenic glycosides, quantified)

Senica M et al. J Sci Food Agric 2017 (processing effect on cyanogenic glycosides, quantified)

Senica M et al. J Sci Food Agric 2017 manual

BibTeX for all 1 records

@article{SenicaMet2017,
  title = {Senica M et al. J Sci Food Agric 2017 (processing effect on cyanogenic glycosides, quantified)},
  author = {Senica M et al.},
  journal = {J Sci Food Agric},
  year = {2017},
}

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