Drug & supplement interaction

Apoaequorin + Tofacitinib

Tofacitinib brand names: Xeljanz, Xeljanz XR.

No Known Interaction
The bottom line No known interaction

We found no known interaction between Apoaequorin and Tofacitinib 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

Apoaequorin and Tofacitinib

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 Tofacitinib and Apoaequorin 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.

Worth understanding: our licensed dataset holds no drug-interaction record for Apoaequorin at all — not against Tofacitinib, and not against any other medication we track. This verdict therefore rests on the absence of any recorded data, not on research that looked at this combination and found nothing. We cannot rule an interaction out.

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.

Apoaequorin safety at a glance

Apoaequorin overall Use caution Generally well tolerated in short-term studies, but long-term safety is not well established.
Pregnancy Avoid There is not enough safety information, so it is best avoided during pregnancy.
Breastfeeding Avoid There is not enough safety information, so it is best avoided while breastfeeding.

Safety guidance is general; always confirm with your pharmacist or doctor for your situation.

Pharmacist analysis
Prevagen bottle

Based on the current research available, apoaequorin, the protein derived from jellyfish that is the active ingredient in Prevagen, is not known to interact with any drugs.

This lack of interactions is likely due to the fact that apoaequorin is a relatively small and simple protein that does not have any known drug-binding sites or enzymatic activity.

Additionally, safety studies in animals have shown that even very large doses of apoaequorin don't appear to affect any organs or blood chemistry.

However, overall, there is limited data on its potential interactions with other drugs.

If someone is taking apoaequorin as a dietary supplement, they should still consult with a healthcare professional before starting to take it, especially if they are currently taking any medications or have any underlying medical conditions.

As with any dietary supplement, it is important to follow recommended dosages and to use it only as directed.

References

  • Subchronic toxicity of lyophilized apoaequorin protein powder in Sprague-Dawley rats. Sage Journals
  • Safety assessment of Apoaequorin, a protein preparation: subchronic toxicity study in rats. PubMed

Still wondering about combining Tofacitinib and Apoaequorin? Ask Dr. Brian Staiger, PharmD, BCPS directly ›
What to actually watch for

No Interaction Found — But Data Suggests Apoaequorin and Tofacitinib 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.

  • Headache reported in 7.3% of FDA reports for Tofacitinib Additional detail

    Apoaequorin

    “Orally, a specific apoaequorin product (Prevagen, Quincy Bioscience) has been reported to cause headache and dizziness in one clinical study at a rate of 18.8% and 7.6%, respectively. Memory impairment and insomnia were also reported. However, it is unclear how these rates compare with placebo.”

    Apoaequorin · Natural Medicines adverse-effect record, reported in cluster headache.

    1 source cited
    1. 89624. GRAS Notice (GRN) No. 568. U.S. Food and Drug Administration Web site. Available at: http://www.fda.gov/downloads/Food/IngredientsPackagingLabeling/GRAS/NoticeInventory/UCM457034.pdf. Accessed September 28, 2015.

    Tofacitinib

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

  • Diarrhea Additional detail

    Apoaequorin

    “Orally, a specific apoaequorin product (Prevagen, Quincy Bioscience) was reported to cause mild diarrhea, nausea, and stomach pain in one study. Nausea occurred at a rate of 6.8%, diarrhea at a rate of 3.2%, and stomach pain at a rate of 2.2%. However, it is unclear how these rates compare with placebo.”

    Apoaequorin · Natural Medicines adverse-effect record, reported in diarrhea.

    1 source cited
    1. 89624. GRAS Notice (GRN) No. 568. U.S. Food and Drug Administration Web site. Available at: http://www.fda.gov/downloads/Food/IngredientsPackagingLabeling/GRAS/NoticeInventory/UCM457034.pdf. Accessed September 28, 2015.

    Tofacitinib

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

Reported for Apoaequorin but not commonly for Tofacitinib: memory problems, stomach pain, raised blood pressure and low blood pressure.

Effects for Tofacitinib come from the ADVERSE REACTIONS section of its FDA label; effects for Apoaequorin come from the Natural Medicines adverse-effect record, quoted above. Where a percentage is shown, it is the share of 185,980 voluntary FDA FAERS reports for Tofacitinib 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.

Everything else you take

See Every Supplement That Interacts With Tofacitinib

This page covers Apoaequorin only. If you take other supplements — a multivitamin, a sleep aid, something for joints — the Tofacitinib page lists 184 supplements it has a documented interaction with, worst first, each one explained.

The most serious there right now: Activated Charcoal (major), Grapefruit (major), St. John's Wort (major), Acacia Rigidula (moderate) and Active Hexose Correlated Compound (ahcc) (moderate).

By severity: 3 major · 143 moderate · 38 minor.

From our pharmacist’s overview on the Tofacitinib page

“Supplements deserve genuine care alongside tofacitinib (Xeljanz, Xeljanz XR), a medicine that deliberately dials down the immune system to control conditions like rheumatoid arthritis and ulcerative colitis. Most of the interactions on this page run through the liver enzymes that clear the drug, meaning an herb can push its blood level…”

Reviewed by 2 · Jul 18, 2026

Open the Tofacitinib interaction page

One more smart check

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

We hold 28 real supplement products containing Apoaequorin, each one broken down to its full ingredient list — and combination products often carry several ingredients besides Apoaequorin. Even though Apoaequorin itself has no known interaction with Tofacitinib, 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 Apoaequorin and Tofacitinib 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 Apoaequorin
Steady interest

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

29 days ago today
Medication Tofacitinib
Top half

#928 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 Apoaequorin reference on this page ↓
  • Freshness: we automatically re-check this combination every week — this pair was last verified September 20, 2026. The Apoaequorin and Tofacitinib 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 Apoaequorin

What is Apoaequorin?

Apoaequorin
  • Age-related memory concerns
  • General cognitive support
  • Brain health
  • Mild forgetfulness

Apoaequorin is a jellyfish-derived protein marketed (as Prevagen) to support memory and brain health. The scientific evidence that it improves memory is weak and largely comes from industry-funded studies, and as a protein it is likely broken down during digestion. Talk with your pharmacist or doctor before using it, especially if you have memory problems that need medical evaluation.

A synthetic version of a protein originally found in the jellyfish Aequorea victoria · Capsules, chewable tablets

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

Apoaequorin: dosing

There is no officially established or standardized dose for apoaequorin. Taking more than the labeled amount has no proven benefit and is not recommended.

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

Read the full Apoaequorin monograph & all interactions
Medication

About Tofacitinib

What Is Tofacitinib Used For?

Brand names: Xeljanz, Xeljanz XR

  • Tofacitinib is used alone or with other medications to treat rheumatoid arthritis (condition in which the body attacks its own joints causing pain, swelling, and loss of function) in adults who are unable to take or did not respond to one or more tumor necrosis factor (TNF) inhibitor medication(s). It is also used to treat psoriatic arthritis (a condition that causes joint pain and swelling and scales on the skin) in adults who are unable to take or did not respond to or tolerate one or more TNF inhibitor medication(s). Tofacitinib is used to treat ulcerative colitis (a condition which causes swelling and sores in the lining of the colon [large intestine] and rectum) in adults who are unable to take or who did not respond to one or more TNF inhibitor medication(s). It is also used to treat polyarticular juvenile idiopathic arthritis (PJIA; a type of childhood arthritis that affects five or more joints during the first six months of the condition, causing pain, swelling, and loss of function) in children 2 years and older who are unable to take or who did not respond to one or more TNF inhibitor medication(s). Tofacitinib is in a class of medications called Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitors. It works by decreasing the activity of the immune system.

See full Tofacitinib drug information
Keep checking

Other Drugs & Apoaequorin

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

0Major
0Moderate
0Minor
2,829No known interaction
No interaction 2,829 drugs checked — show the list
Evidence & sources

Apoaequorin References

The 1 references that drive our Apoaequorin 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. GRAS Notice (GRN) No. 568. U.S. Food and Drug Administration Web site. Available at: http://www.fda.gov/downloads/Food/IngredientsPackagingLabeling/GRAS/NoticeInventory/UCM457034.pdf. Accessed September 28, 2015.

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 Apoaequorin and Tofacitinib Together: Common Questions

Is it safe to take Apoaequorin with Tofacitinib?
We do not list a known interaction between Apoaequorin and Tofacitinib. 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 Apoaequorin and Tofacitinib have any of the same side effects?
Yes — our sources link each of them separately to 2 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.
Does Tofacitinib interact with any supplements?
Yes. Tofacitinib has documented interactions with 184 supplements in our database — Apoaequorin is not one of them. The Tofacitinib interaction page linked on this page lists every one, ranked by severity.

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

Still Have a Question About Tofacitinib and Apoaequorin?

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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.