Garcinia indica · PhytoNexus

01 Identity and provenance

Accepted binomial: Garcinia indica
Common names: Kokum
Family (APG IV): Clusiaceae
Part used: Fruit
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
Polyisoprenylated benzophenones, Organic acids, Anthocyanins, Xanthones	Garcinol, Hydroxycitric acid (HCA), Isogarcinol, Anthocyanins (Cyanidin-3-glucoside, Cyanidin-3-sambubioside), Cambogin, Citric acid, Malic acid, Xanthones Fruit	Orlistat, Bempedoic acid, Fenofibrate, Rosuvastatin

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: Anti-obesity, antioxidant, cardioprotective, hepatoprotective, dyslipidemia, metabolic syndrome, anti-inflammatory, digestive aid
Marketed in: Kokum juice, nutraceutical capsules, weight management supplements, beverages, syrups, herbal tablets, functional foods
Reported adverse effects: Gastrointestinal discomfort, diarrhea, nausea, headache, dry mouth, hypoglycemia (rare), possible liver toxicity with excessive supplement use (rare and formulation-dependent)

04 Interaction matrix

Source column, verbatim: Antidiabetic drugs, lipid-lowering agents (statins, fibrates), anticoagulants, antihypertensives, serotonergic antidepressants (theoretical), weight-loss medications
Normalised onto 5 canonical drug classes below.

Curated from the reviewed source

Drug class	Severity	Mechanism type	Provenance	Expected effect
Anticoagulants (vitamin-K antagonists, DOACs) Haemostasis	3Major	PD-additive + PK-CYP2C9	curated B	INR destabilisation in either direction; ecchymosis, epistaxis, gum bleed…	why ▾
Class mechanism. Coumarin-, salicylate- and coumestan-bearing botanicals add to vitamin-K-antagonist effect; several also compete for CYP2C9 and CYP3A4, raising S-warfarin exposure. Botanicals rich in vitamin K1 act in the opposite direction and blunt anticoagulation. Expected INR destabilisation in either direction; ecchymosis, epistaxis, gum bleeding, GI or intracranial haemorrhage. Management Do not start or stop the botanical without INR cover. Check INR at 3-5 days and again at 2 weeks. Document the product, batch and dose in the anticoagulation record. Onset rapid Evidence B - reviewed clinical column, source pending Matched on “anticoagulants” Find evidence for this pair Map this mechanism
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
Antidiabetic drugs (insulin, sulfonylureas, biguanides, GLP-1, SGLT2) Endocrine	3Major	PD-additive	curated B	Symptomatic hypoglycaemia, sweating, tremor, confusion; severe events rep…	why ▾
Class mechanism. Hypoglycaemic botanicals act through insulin secretagogue, insulin-sensitising, alpha-glucosidase-inhibiting or glucose-transport routes. Added to a titrated pharmacological regimen the effects summate rather than plateau. Expected Symptomatic hypoglycaemia, sweating, tremor, confusion; severe events reported with insulin and sulfonylureas. Management Increase self-monitoring frequency for 2 weeks after starting or stopping. Anticipate a downward dose adjustment of insulin or sulfonylurea. Onset rapid Evidence B - reviewed clinical column, source pending Matched on “antidiabetic drugs” Find evidence for this pair Map this mechanism
Antihypertensives Cardiovascular	2Moderate	PD-additive	curated B	Orthostatic hypotension, dizziness, syncope and falls; or loss of blood-p…	why ▾
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 “antihypertensives” Find evidence for this pair Map this mechanism
Statins and lipid-lowering drugs Cardiovascular	2Moderate	PK-CYP3A4/OATP	curated B	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 B - reviewed clinical column, source pending Matched on “statins” 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

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.

Garcinia cambogia

Garcinia

Clusiaceae

Same genus (Garcinia)

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
Camellia sinensis Green Tea	Theaceae	7	0.58
Phyllanthus amarus Bhui Amla	Phyllanthaceae	7	0.54
Cyperus rotundus Nagarmotha	Cyperaceae	7	0.70
Silybum marianum Milk Thistle	Asteraceae	6	0.60
Vaccinium macrocarpon Cranberry	Ericaceae	6	0.67
Vinca minor Lesser Periwinkle	Apocynaceae	6	0.60

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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