Drug & supplement interaction

Anise + Mepolizumab

Mepolizumab brand name: Nucala.

No Known Interaction
The bottom line No known interaction

We found no known interaction between Anise and Mepolizumab in our sources. Absence of a documented interaction is not the same as proven safety, and does not guarantee one does not exist. Do not start, stop, or change a medication or supplement based on this page; confirm with your pharmacist or doctor first. Additionally, although there is no interaction, the two are separately associated with some of the same side effects, which would make a new symptom harder to attribute to one or the other.

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Interaction report

Anise and Mepolizumab

We checked these two against our interaction database. Here is what we found.

No Known Interaction Found

We did not find a documented interaction between Mepolizumab and Anise in our sources. This does not guarantee that the combination is completely free of risk — there is often limited research on supplements and herbal products, especially around drug interactions.

If you decide to take both, the practical routine is simple: add one new thing at a time and note the date you started it. If the combination is going to disagree with you, it usually shows in the first days to a couple of weeks — and a start date turns “I’ve been feeling off” into something a pharmacist can actually work with. Do not stop a prescribed medicine on your own.

Always talk with your pharmacist or doctor before making changes to your medications or supplements, particularly if you take several medications or have an ongoing health condition.

Anise safety at a glance

Anise overall Use caution Generally safe as a food or tea, but the concentrated essential oil needs more care.
Pregnancy Likely Safe When used orally in amounts commonly found in food. Anise and anise oil have Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) status in the US. There is insufficient reliabl... Read the full pregnancy detail
Breastfeeding Likely Safe When used orally in amounts commonly found in food. Anise and anise oil have Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) status in the US. There is insufficient reliabl... Read the full breastfeeding detail

Pregnancy & breastfeeding ratings are from Natural Medicines (Therapeutic Research Center) — the full detail is in the Special populations card below. Safety guidance is general; always confirm with your pharmacist or doctor for your situation.

Still wondering about combining Mepolizumab and Anise? Ask Dr. Brian Staiger, PharmD, BCPS directly ›
Keep it in perspective

Anise Does Interact With Other Medications

Anise has 193 moderate, 52 minor known drug interactions in our database — Mepolizumab isn’t one of them. If you take anything else, check it against the full list below.

Taking anything else?

Check Another of Your Medications Against Anise

Covers the 2,830 medications we’ve checked against Anise. Pick one to open its full report.

What to actually watch for

No Interaction Found — But Data Suggests Anise and Mepolizumab May Share Several of the Same Side Effects

This is not an interaction. Neither one changes how your body handles the other, and nothing here says they react together. What our sources do show is that each has separately been linked to the effects below — so taking both can make those effects more likely to turn up, and harder to pin on one or the other if they do. 2 of them are worth acting on rather than waiting out — marked below.

  • Wheezing / An allergic reaction Worth acting on reported in 40.3% of FDA reports for Mepolizumab Additional detail

    Anise

    “Anise can cause allergic reactions in sensitive individuals. Orally or by inhalation, anise can cause rhinoconjunctivitis, occupational asthma, and anaphylaxis. Topically, anise can cause contact dermatitis, rhinitis, and asthma. Contact dermatitis and cheilitis have also been reported following the use of toothpaste containing anethole, a constituent of anise.”

    Anise · Natural Medicines adverse-effect record, reported in asthma.

    5 sources cited
    1. 13484. Garcia-Gonzalez JJ, Bartolome-Zavala B, Fernandez-Melendez S, et al. Occupational rhinoconjunctivitis and food allergy because of aniseed sensitization. Ann Allergy Asthma Immunol 2002;88:518-22. . PubMed
    2. 31319. Gonzalez-Gutierrez, M. L., Sanchez-Fernandez, C., Esteban-Lopez, M. I., Sempere-Ortells, J. M., and Diaz-Alperi, P. Allergy to anis. Allergy 2000;55(2):195-196.
    3. 31341. Anliker, M. D., Borelli, S., and Wuthrich, B. Occupational protein contact dermatitis from spices in a butcher: a new presentation of the mugwort-spice syndrome. Contact Dermatitis 2002;46(2):72-74. PubMed
    4. 31403. Poon, T. S. and Freeman, S. Cheilitis caused by contact allergy to anethole in spearmint flavoured toothpaste. Australas.J Dermatol. 2006;47(4):300-301. PubMed
    5. 31528. Andersen, K. E. Contact allergy to toothpaste flavors. Contact Dermatitis 1978;4(4):195-198. PubMed

    Mepolizumab

    Listed in the ADVERSE REACTIONS section of the FDA label for Mepolizumab, and in voluntary FDA adverse-event reports. Read the label on DailyMed ›

  • Itching Additional detail

    Anise

    “Topically, anise, in combination with other herbs, has been reported to cause localized pruritus.”

    Anise · Natural Medicines adverse-effect record, reported in pruritus.

    1 source cited
    1. 13483. Mumcuoglu KY, Miller J, Zamir C, et al. The in vivo pediculicidal efficacy of a natural remedy. Isr Med Assoc J 2002;4:790-3.

    Mepolizumab

    Listed in the ADVERSE REACTIONS section of the FDA label for Mepolizumab. Read the label on DailyMed ›

Reported for Anise but not commonly for Mepolizumab: a severe allergic reaction, a skin rash and a stuffy or runny nose.

Effects for Mepolizumab come from the ADVERSE REACTIONS section of its FDA label; effects for Anise come from the Natural Medicines adverse-effect record, quoted above. Where a percentage is shown, it is the share of 49,399 voluntary FDA FAERS reports for Mepolizumab that mention that effect — a reporting proportion, not an incidence rate and not evidence the drug caused it. Wording is matched across sources by our own clinical vocabulary, so treat this as a prompt to pay attention, not a diagnosis.

Special populations

Anise in Pregnancy & Breastfeeding

Pregnancy And Lactation Likely Safe

When used orally in amounts commonly found in food. Anise and anise oil have Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) status in the US. There is insufficient reliable information available about the safety of anise when taken orally in medicinal amounts during pregnancy or breast-feeding.

DISCLAIMER: This tool is intended for informational purposes only, and should not be interpreted as specific medical advice. Patients should consult with a qualified healthcare provider before making decisions about therapies and/or health conditions.© 2026 Therapeutic Research Center

Overlapping uses

What Mepolizumab Is Prescribed For, and What Anise Has Been Studied For

These two come up together because they touch the same health topic — not because they do the same job. Mepolizumab is a prescription medicine with approved uses on its FDA label. Anise is a supplement: what follows is what researchers have looked at it for, and how strong that evidence is.

Mepolizumab is prescribed for: Nucala is used as an add-on maintenance treatment — meaning it works alongside other medications, not instead of them. It is approved for severe asthma (in patients 6 years and older with high eosinophil levels), chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps (CRSwNP) in adults 18 and older whose symptoms aren't controlled by nasal corticosteroids alone, and COPD in adults with an eosinophilic phenotype whose disease isn't adequately controlled. Nucala is also approved to treat eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis (EGPA), a rare form of blood vessel inflammation, and hypereosinophilic syndrome (HES), a condition involving dangerously elevated eosinophil counts, in adults and adolescents 12 and older. It is not meant to relieve sudden asthma attacks or acute COPD flares.

Anise has been studied for:

  • Asthma studied, not established Anise has been studied for this. Natural Medicines rates the evidence: Insufficient Reliable Evidence To Rate Read what the research shows

    Anise for asthma

    Oral anise has only been evaluated in combination with other ingredients; its effect when used alone is unclear.

Effectiveness ratings and the research summaries above are the verbatim record from the Natural Medicines database, which grades evidence from “Effective” down to “Insufficient Reliable Evidence To Rate”. A rating below the top of that scale means researchers have looked at it — not that it works, and never that it can stand in for a prescribed medicine. Do not stop or replace Mepolizumab on your own; if you are taking Anise for the same health topic, tell your prescriber, especially if the medicine is being adjusted to a target.

One more smart check

Taking Anise as Part of a Dietary Supplement Product? Check It for Interactions

We hold 465 real supplement products containing Anise, each one broken down to its full ingredient list — and combination products often carry several ingredients besides Anise. Even though Anise itself has no known interaction with Mepolizumab, another ingredient on your label might. Find your product and we’ll check every ingredient on its label:

How much people look this up

Where Anise and Mepolizumab Sit Against Everything Else

Out of every supplement and medication people look up on HelloPharmacist, here is where these two land this week — and which way each has been moving.

Supplement Anise
Top half

#385 of 1,452 supplements looked up here in the last 7 days

29 days ago today
Medication Mepolizumab
Steady interest

#1,812 of 2,830 medications looked up here in the last 7 days

29 days ago today

Position among everything looked up on this site, not a measure of how commonly either one is used or how important it is. A supplement can climb this list because of a news story. It counts every request to the page, automated ones included, and nothing here identifies anyone.

Where does our data come from?
  • Source: the Natural Medicines (TRC Healthcare) clinical database — the evidence-graded professional reference for herb & supplement interactions.
  • Citation library: 103,510 references behind our interaction content, 65,311 of them resolved to verified PubMed/DOI sources. See every Anise reference on this page ↓
  • Freshness: we automatically re-check this combination every week — this pair was last verified September 13, 2026. The Anise and Mepolizumab records this page draws on were last updated July 10, 2026.
  • What “no known interaction” means: no documented interaction in the sources above — not a guarantee of safety. Supplements are studied far less than prescription drugs, so we say exactly what the evidence supports, and nothing more.
Data structure & sourcing designed and verified by .
Supplement

About Anise

What is Anise?

Anise
  • Digestive upset and bloating
  • Cough and respiratory complaints
  • Sore throat
  • Menstrual discomfort
  • Flavoring agent

Anise is a fragrant, licorice-flavored seed used for centuries to ease digestion and soothe coughs. Most of its health claims are based on tradition and small or laboratory studies rather than strong human research, so evidence is limited. It is generally safe as a food and tea for most adults, but the concentrated essential oil should be used carefully and avoided in pregnancy.

Pimpinella anisum · Apiaceae · Seeds (fruit) and essential oil · Whole or ground seeds, tea, capsules, extracts, essential oil

An interaction check asks whether these two react with each other — it does not ask whether Anise is a good idea for someone in your situation. Here is what our Anise record says about it on its own.

Anise: dosing

There is no official standardized dose for anise. Amounts vary widely depending on the form, such as seeds steeped as tea, capsules, or extracts.The best approach is to follow the directions on the product label and not exceed the recommended amount.

From our Anise monograph — the full record covers uses, side effects and every documented interaction.

Read the full Anise monograph & all interactions
Medication

About Mepolizumab Injection

What Is Mepolizumab Injection Used For?

Brand name: Nucala

Nucala is used as an add-on maintenance treatment — meaning it works alongside other medications, not instead of them. It is approved for severe asthma (in patients 6 years and older with high eosinophil levels), chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps (CRSwNP) in adults 18 and older whose symptoms aren't controlled by nasal corticosteroids alone, and COPD in adults with an eosinophilic phenotype whose disease isn't adequately controlled.

Nucala is also approved to treat eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis (EGPA), a rare form of blood vessel inflammation, and hypereosinophilic syndrome (HES), a condition involving dangerously elevated eosinophil counts, in adults and adolescents 12 and older. It is not meant to relieve sudden asthma attacks or acute COPD flares.

Most-Reported Side Effects for Mepolizumab

From FAERS, the FDA’s public side-effect reporting system (49,399 reports, all brands). Reports are voluntary and are not proof the drug caused the effect.

Asthma 12,767 reports
Dyspnea 10,576 reports
Wheezing 7,131 reports
Cough 5,100 reports
Therapeutic product effect incomplete 5,051 reports
See full Mepolizumab Injection drug information
Keep checking

Other Drugs & Anise

Browse every other medication we’ve checked against Anise — both the ones with a known interaction and the ones without. Select any drug for the full detail.

0Major
193Moderate
52Minor
2,584No known interaction
Moderate

193 interactions

Showing 60 of 193 moderate interactions — see all 193 on the Anise page.

Minor

52 interactions

No interaction 2,584 drugs checked — show the list
Evidence & sources

Anise References

The 12 references that drive our Anise monograph and interaction data, from the evidence-graded Natural Medicines (TRC Healthcare) database. Citations with a link open the study on PubMed or the publisher’s site.

  1. Electronic Code of Federal Regulations. Title 21. Part 182 -- Substances Generally Recognized As Safe. Available at: https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfcfr/CFRSearch.cfm?CFRPart=182
  2. Kassi E, Papoutsi Z, Fokialakis N, et al. Greek plant extracts exhibit selective estrogen receptor modulator (SERM)-like properties. J Agric Food Chem 2004;52:6956-61. PubMed
  3. Mumcuoglu KY, Miller J, Zamir C, et al. The in vivo pediculicidal efficacy of a natural remedy. Isr Med Assoc J 2002;4:790-3.
  4. Garcia-Gonzalez JJ, Bartolome-Zavala B, Fernandez-Melendez S, et al. Occupational rhinoconjunctivitis and food allergy because of aniseed sensitization. Ann Allergy Asthma Immunol 2002;88:518-22. . PubMed
  5. Tabanca N, Khan SI, Bedir E, et al. Estrogenic activity of isolated compounds and essential oils of Pimpinella species from Turkey, evaluated using a recombinant yeast screen. Planta Med 2004;70:728-35.
  6. Gonzalez-Gutierrez, M. L., Sanchez-Fernandez, C., Esteban-Lopez, M. I., Sempere-Ortells, J. M., and Diaz-Alperi, P. Allergy to anis. Allergy 2000;55(2):195-196.
  7. Anliker, M. D., Borelli, S., and Wuthrich, B. Occupational protein contact dermatitis from spices in a butcher: a new presentation of the mugwort-spice syndrome. Contact Dermatitis 2002;46(2):72-74. PubMed
  8. Poon, T. S. and Freeman, S. Cheilitis caused by contact allergy to anethole in spearmint flavoured toothpaste. Australas.J Dermatol. 2006;47(4):300-301. PubMed
  9. Andersen, K. E. Contact allergy to toothpaste flavors. Contact Dermatitis 1978;4(4):195-198. PubMed
  10. Samojlik I, Mijatovic V, Petkovic S, et al. The influence of essential oil of aniseed (Pimpinella anisum, L.) on drug effects on the central nervous system. Fitoterapia 2012;83:1466-73. PubMed
  11. Samojlik I, Petkovic S, Stilinovic N, et al. Pharmacokinetic herb-drug interaction between essential oil of aniseed (Pimpinella anisum L., Apiaceae) and acetaminophen and caffeine: A potential risk for clinical practice. Phytother Res 2016;30:253-9.
  12. Rajeshwari U, Shobha I, Andallu B. Comparison of aniseeds and coriander seeds for antidiabetic, hypolipidemic and antioxidant activities. Spatula DD-Peer Reviewed Journal on Complementary Medicine and Drug Discovery 2011;1:9-16. DOI

Medication overviews come from MedlinePlus (NIH); supplement label data from the NIH Dietary Supplement Label Database. Content is written and reviewed by licensed HelloPharmacist pharmacists — see our data sources and editorial standards.

Pharmacist Counseling Corner

Taking Anise and Mepolizumab Together: Common Questions

Is it safe to take Anise with Mepolizumab?
We do not list a known interaction between Anise and Mepolizumab. That does not guarantee the combination is risk-free, so confirm with your pharmacist or doctor — especially if you take other medications or have a health condition.
Do Anise and Mepolizumab have any of the same side effects?
Yes — our sources link each of them separately to 3 of the same effects. That is not an interaction: neither changes how your body handles the other. It does mean that if one of those effects turns up, it can be harder to tell which one is behind it. They are listed on this page with the source behind each.
Are Anise and Mepolizumab used for the same thing?
They overlap in purpose, which usually means the real question is whether you need both rather than whether they are safe together. This page lists the shared uses and how strong the evidence is for Anise in each. That is a conversation for your prescriber, especially if Mepolizumab is being adjusted to a target.
Does Anise interact with any other medications?
Yes. Anise has 245 documented drug interactions in our database — Mepolizumab is simply not one of them. If you take anything else, it is worth checking each one; they are all listed on this page.

Written and reviewed by the HelloPharmacist editorial staff. Our editorial policy

Still Have a Question About Mepolizumab and Anise?

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This information is for education only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice. Always check with your pharmacist or doctor before starting, stopping, or combining supplements and medications.