Valeriana jatamansi · PhytoNexus

01 Identity and provenance

Accepted binomial: Valeriana jatamansi
Common names: Tagar
Family (APG IV): Caprifoliaceae
Part used: Rhizome
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
Sesquiterpenoids, Iridoids, Essential oils	Valerenic acid, Acetoxyvalerenic acid, Hydroxyvalerenic acid, Valepotriates (Didrovaltrate, Valtrate, Acevaltrate), Bornyl acetate, Patchouli alcohol, Kessyl glycol, β-Caryophyllene Rhizome	Diazepam, Clonazepam, Alprazolam, Pregabalin

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: Sedative, anxiolytic, insomnia, epilepsy, migraine, muscle relaxation, neuroprotective, stress disorders
Marketed in: Herbal sleep aids, calming capsules, stress relief tablets, essential oils, teas, Ayurvedic formulations
Reported adverse effects: Drowsiness, impaired concentration, headache, dizziness, gastrointestinal discomfort, vivid dreams, withdrawal symptoms after prolonged high-dose use (rare)

04 Interaction matrix

Source column, verbatim: Benzodiazepines, antidepressants, anticonvulsants, opioids, alcohol, anesthetic agents, sedative antihistamines
Normalised onto 6 canonical drug classes below.

Curated from the reviewed source

Drug class	Severity	Mechanism type	Provenance	Expected effect
Antidepressants (SSRI, SNRI, TCA) CNS	3Major	PD-additive serotonergic + PK-CYP2D6	curated B	Serotonin syndrome (agitation, clonus, hyperthermia, autonomic instabilit…	why ▾
Class mechanism. Hypericin- and hyperforin-type constituents inhibit monoamine reuptake and induce CYP3A4/2C19 and P-glycoprotein; others inhibit CYP2D6, raising tricyclic and SSRI concentrations. Expected Serotonin syndrome (agitation, clonus, hyperthermia, autonomic instability) or loss of antidepressant effect on withdrawal of an inducer. Management Screen for serotonergic burden before adding. Taper rather than stop abruptly. Consider therapeutic drug monitoring for tricyclics. Onset rapid Evidence B - reviewed clinical column, source pending Matched on “antidepressants” Find evidence for this pair Map this mechanism
Antiepileptics CNS	3Major	PK-CYP induction + PD-antagonistic	curated B	Breakthrough seizures, status epilepticus, or additive sedation and ataxi…	why ▾
Class mechanism. Enzyme-inducing botanicals lower plasma anticonvulsant concentrations, while GABAergic constituents add sedation and a few (thujone, camphor, beta-asarone, pinene-rich oils) are directly proconvulsant and lower seizure threshold. Expected Breakthrough seizures, status epilepticus, or additive sedation and ataxia. Management Measure anticonvulsant levels before and 2-4 weeks after any change. Avoid proconvulsant essential oils entirely in epilepsy. Onset delayed Evidence B - reviewed clinical column, source pending Matched on “anticonvulsants” Find evidence for this pair Map this mechanism
Opioid analgesics CNS	3Major	PD-additive + PK-CYP2D6/3A4	curated B	Respiratory depression, over-sedation, constipation, ileus; unpredictable…	why ▾
Class mechanism. Botanical mu-agonists and CNS depressants add to opioid respiratory and sedative effect; CYP2D6 and CYP3A4 modulation alters the conversion of codeine and tramadol to active metabolites. Expected Respiratory depression, over-sedation, constipation, ileus; unpredictable analgesia in CYP2D6 poor or ultrarapid metabolisers. Management Avoid concurrent botanical sedatives. Counsel on overdose signs and ensure naloxone availability where risk is high. Onset rapid Evidence B - reviewed clinical column, source pending Matched on “opioids” Find evidence for this pair Map this mechanism
Sedatives, hypnotics and benzodiazepines CNS	3Major	PD-additive	curated B	Excess sedation, psychomotor and driving impairment, falls, respiratory d…	why ▾
Class mechanism. Valepotriate, kavalactone, apigenin, sesquiterpene and alkaloid constituents act at GABA-A, adenosine and histamine sites, summating with prescribed CNS depression. Some also inhibit CYP3A4 and raise benzodiazepine exposure. Expected Excess sedation, psychomotor and driving impairment, falls, respiratory depression when combined with opioids. Management Warn against driving and machine operation. Avoid triple combinations with opioids. Reduce hypnotic dose in older adults. Onset rapid Evidence B - reviewed clinical column, source pending Matched on “sedative antihistamines” Find evidence for this pair Map this mechanism
Alcohol CNS	2Moderate	PD-additive + organ toxicity	curated B	Excess sedation, impaired judgement, higher risk of botanical hepatotoxic…	why ▾
Class mechanism. Additive CNS depression plus shared hepatic injury pathways; alcohol also increases the extraction and absorption of lipophilic botanical constituents from tinctures. Expected Excess sedation, impaired judgement, higher risk of botanical hepatotoxicity. Management Advise abstinence with sedative or hepatotoxic botanicals; note the ethanol content of tinctures in recovering patients. Onset rapid Evidence B - reviewed clinical column, source pending Matched on “alcohol” Find evidence for this pair Map this mechanism
Antihistamines Immunology	2Moderate	PD-additive	curated B	Drowsiness, impaired coordination, dry mouth, urinary hesitancy, confusio…	why ▾
Class mechanism. Sedating antihistamines add to botanical CNS depression, and their antimuscarinic component adds to tropane alkaloid burden. Expected Drowsiness, impaired coordination, dry mouth, urinary hesitancy, confusion in the elderly. Management Prefer non-sedating agents. Warn about driving during the first week of combined use. Onset rapid Evidence B - reviewed clinical column, source pending Matched on “antihistamines” 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
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. Volatile terpenes are lipophilic, cross membranes readily and induce or inhibit CYP2B6 and CYP3A4 depending on the constituent. 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
Topical antiseptics, keratolytics and irritants Dermatology	2Moderate	PD-additive local	predicted D	Contact dermatitis, chemical burn, photoirritation, unexpected systemic a…	why ▾
Chemistry of this pair. Volatile terpenes are lipophilic, cross membranes readily and induce or inhibit CYP2B6 and CYP3A4 depending on the constituent. Class mechanism. Essential-oil terpenes, capsaicinoids and phorbol-type diterpenes add to the barrier disruption caused by topical antiseptics, retinoids and keratolytics, and increase percutaneous absorption of anything applied with them. Expected Contact dermatitis, chemical burn, photoirritation, unexpected systemic absorption from broken skin. Management Patch test first. Never apply undiluted essential oils to broken or freshly shaved skin, or with occlusion. 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

These entries could be mistaken for this one in trade, in the herbarium, or in a prescription. Powdered material is often indistinguishable, so the check is macroscopic, microscopic and chromatographic rather than nominal.

Valeriana officinalis

Valerian

Caprifoliaceae

Same genus (Valeriana)

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
Nardostachys jatamansi Jatamansi	Caprifoliaceae	8	0.89
Piper methysticum Kava	Piperaceae	5	0.38
Mitragyna speciosa Kratom	Rubiaceae	5	0.42
Strychnos nux-vomica Nux Vomica	Loganiaceae	4	0.31
Achillea millefolium Yarrow	Asteraceae	4	0.25
Cannabis sativa Cannabis	Cannabaceae	3	0.38

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

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