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Purpose: Herbal medicines are occasionally used in combination with conventional antidepressants to mitigate various depression-associated symptoms. However, there is limited information on herb–antidepressant interactions. In this study, we investigated the pharmacokinetic (PK) effects of four herbal medicines (Gami-soyosan, Banhasasim-tang, Ojeok-san, and Bojungikgi-tang) on escitalopram, a commonly used antidepressant. Patients and Methods: In this open-label, fixed-sequence, three-period, crossover study, 18 participants were enrolled and divided into two groups. Each group received a 10 mg oral dose of escitalopram in period 1. Participants took escitalopram once daily and their assigned herbal medicines thrice a day for 7 d in periods 2 (group 1: Gami-soyosan, group 2: Ojeok-san) and 3 (group 1: Banhasasim-tang; group 2: Bojungikgi-tang). The primary endpoints were Cmax,ss and AUCtau,ss of escitalopram. Cmax,ss and AUCtau,ss in period 1 were obtained using nonparametric superposition from single-dose data. The PK endpoints were classified according to the CYP2C19 phenotype. Results: Of 18 participants, 16 completed the study. Systemic exposure to escitalopram resulted in a minor increase in the presence of each herbal medicine. The geometric mean ratios (GMRs, combination with herbal medicines/escitalopram monotherapy) and their 90% confidence intervals (CIs) for Cmax,ss and AUCtau,ss were as follows: Gamisoyosan– 1.1454 (0.9201, 1.4258) and 1.0749 (0.8084, 1.4291), Banhasasim-tang– 1.0470 (0.7779, 1.4092) and 1.0465 (0.7035, 1.5568), Ojeok-san– 1.1204 (0.8744, 1.4357) and 1.1267 (0.8466, 1.4996), and Bojungikgi-tang– 1.1264 (0.8594, 1.4762) and 1.1400 (0.8515, 1.5261), respectively. Furthermore, no significant differences in the GMRs of Cmax,ss and AUCtau,ss were observed across different CYP2C19 phenotypes in any of the groups. Conclusion: The co-administration of escitalopram with Gami-soyosan, Banhasasim-tang, Ojeok-san, or Bojungikgi-tang did not exert significant PK effects on escitalopram. These findings provide valuable insights into the safe use of herbal medicines along with escitalopram. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Peer-to-peer (P2P) accommodation is considered as an important subsector of the 'sharing economy'. P2P sharing economy (SE) platforms bring mostly individual actors called 'peers' together to create value. In general, interactions among peers in P2P SE platforms are considered novel and social with communal feelings such as friendliness and social satisfaction (Perren and Kozinets 2018, Lateral Exchange Markets: How Social Platforms Operate in a Networked Economy) and some research attention has been paid to peer interaction dynamics on P2P accommodation platforms in recent years. This study employs homophily, a potential user interaction dynamic but rarely studied in the context of SE platforms, and investigates its impact on peer-consumer behaviour in a P2P accommodation platform. We also examine homophily drivers in the context of accommodation sharing platforms. Our results suggest that homophily does contribute to peer-users' consumption intention through trust and attitude, and that ethnicity and gender, two strong homophily factors identified in the literature, do not have statistically significant effects on homophily in this context. However, qualitative analysis of open-ended questions suggests that other homophily factors may be more influential in the accommodation sharing economy context. We believe that this study makes a meaningful contribution by expanding our understanding of peer-users' interaction dynamics in the context of accommodation sharing platforms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]