Drug & supplement interaction

Coleus + Voriconazole

Voriconazole brand name: Vfend.

Moderate Interaction
Medically reviewed by · Updated October 2026
The bottom line Moderate

Voriconazole falls into 2 drug categories that Coleus can interact with; the most serious is rated moderate. Theoretically, taking coleus may affect drugs metabolized by CYP2C9 and increase the risk of adverse effects or reduce the effectiveness.

Read the full interaction report
SeverityModerate
LikelihoodPossible
Interactions2
EvidenceD
What do Severity, Likelihood & Evidence mean?
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Interaction report

Coleus and Voriconazole

These two interact in 2 distinct ways. Each one is explained separately below.

Why Are There 2 Interactions?

Coleus interacts with whole categories of medication. Voriconazole falls into 2 of those categories, so it can interact with Coleus in 2 different ways. We’ve listed each one below — your overall risk is driven by the most serious of them (Moderate).

Moderate

CYTOCHROME P450 2C9 (CYP2C9) SUBSTRATES

1 of 2

Why this applies to Voriconazole

Voriconazole falls under CYTOCHROME P450 2C9 (CYP2C9) SUBSTRATES — the group Coleus interacts with.

Theoretically, taking coleus may affect drugs metabolized by CYP2C9 and increase the risk of adverse effects or reduce the effectiveness.
Research on the effect of coleus on CYP2C9 is conflicting. Some animal research shows that coleus extract can induce CYP2C9, while in vitro research shows that coleus can inhibit CYP2C9. Until more is known, advise patients that taking coleus might increase or decrease levels of drugs metabolized by CYP2C9.
Severity Moderate Likelihood Possible Evidence D

Interaction has been documented in animal or in lab research, or the interaction has been documented in humans but is limited to case reports or conflicting clinical research exists.

Dr. Brian Staiger, PharmD, BCPS
Dr. Brian Staiger explains PharmD, Clinical Pharmacist

Here's the gist with voriconazole (Vfend) and Coleus. Your body partly clears voriconazole using a liver enzyme called CYP2C9, and Coleus (forskolin) may bump into that same enzyme. The catch is the research pulls in two directions: some animal studies suggest Coleus speeds the enzyme up (which could lower voriconazole levels and let your fungal infection come back), while lab studies suggest it slows the enzyme down (which could raise levels and bring on more side effects like visual changes, nausea, or liver irritation).

Honestly, this is all theoretical right now, based on lab and animal work, not real patients. Still, voriconazole is a drug where steady levels matter a lot. Before combining them, please check with your pharmacist or doctor.

Contact Dr. Brian directly if you have additional questions on this interaction
References
  1. Yokotani K, Chiba T, Sato Y, et al. Hepatic cytochrome P450 mediates interaction between warfarin and Coleus forskohlii extract in vivo and in vitro. J Pharm Pharmacol. 2012;64(12):1793-801.
Moderate

CYTOCHROME P450 3A4 (CYP3A4) SUBSTRATES

2 of 2

Voriconazole also falls under CYTOCHROME P450 3A4 (CYP3A4) SUBSTRATES.

Theoretically, taking coleus might decrease serum levels of drugs metabolized by CYP3A4.
In vitro research shows that coleus can activate the nuclear receptor, pregnane X receptor (PXR), which results in increased expression of CYP3A4. Although the clinical significance of this is not known, use caution when considering concomitant use of coleus and other drugs affected by these enzymes.
Severity Moderate Likelihood Possible Evidence D

Interaction has been documented in animal or in lab research, or the interaction has been documented in humans but is limited to case reports or conflicting clinical research exists.

Dr. Brian Staiger, PharmD, BCPS
Dr. Brian Staiger explains PharmD, Clinical Pharmacist

Here's the basic idea with Coleus and your voriconazole (Vfend). Your body relies on a liver enzyme called CYP3A4 to help process voriconazole. Lab studies suggest the forskolin in Coleus may nudge that enzyme to work faster. If that happened in real life, it could clear voriconazole out of your system a bit quicker and lower its blood levels.

Why that matters: voriconazole is fighting a serious fungal infection, and lower levels could mean it doesn't work as well. The good news is that this concern comes only from test-tube research, not from people, so we really don't know if it matters in practice. Still, with an infection this important, I wouldn't gamble. Please check with your pharmacist or doctor before adding Coleus.

Contact Dr. Brian directly if you have additional questions on this interaction
References
  1. Ding, X. and Staudinger, J. L. Induction of drug metabolism by forskolin: the role of the pregnane X receptor and the protein kinase a signal transduction pathway. J Pharmacol Exp Ther 2005;312(2):849-856. PubMed
  2. Staudinger, J. L., Ding, X., and Lichti, K. Pregnane X receptor and natural products: beyond drug-drug interactions. Expert.Opin Drug Metab Toxicol 2006;2(6):847-857. PubMed

What These Ratings Mean

Every interaction above is graded three ways — here’s the key to each label.

Severity how clinically significant the interaction is
Major

Clinically significant. Avoid the combination, or use only under close professional supervision.

Moderate

Usually worth avoiding or managing — may need monitoring, a dose change, or timing apart.

Minor

Generally not serious. Be aware of it and mention it to your pharmacist.

Likelihood how strong the evidence is that the interaction actually happens in people
  • LikelyWell-controlled human studies have demonstrated the likely existence of this interaction.
  • ProbableInteraction has not been documented in well-controlled studies, however, the interaction has been demonstrated in some small human studies or in controlled animal studies in conjunction with multiple case reports.
  • PossibleInteraction has been documented in animal or in lab research, or the interaction has been documented in humans but is limited to case reports or conflicting clinical research exists.
  • UnlikelyInteraction has been demonstrated in animal or in lab research but has been shown not to occur in humans.
Evidence the quality of the studies behind the rating (graded A–D)
  • AHigh-quality meta-analysis (quantitative systematic review).
  • BCase-control study.
  • CConsensus.
  • DAnecdotal evidence.

These ratings are for information only. Never start, stop, or otherwise change your therapy before speaking with your provider.

Keep it in perspective

Coleus Also Interacts With Other Medications

Coleus has 29 major, 887 moderate known drug interactions in our database — the Voriconazole one above is among them. If you take anything else, check it against the full list below.

Major 29 Moderate 887 No known interaction 1,914 (incl. Voriconazole)
Taking anything else?

Check Another of Your Medications Against Coleus

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

Everything else you take

See Every Supplement That Interacts With Voriconazole

This page covers Coleus only. If you take other supplements — a multivitamin, a sleep aid, something for joints — the Voriconazole page lists 205 supplements it has a documented interaction with, worst first, each one explained.

The most serious there right now: Activated Charcoal (major), Beer (major), Grapefruit (major), Siberian Cocklebur (major) and St. John's Wort (major).

By severity: 6 major · 159 moderate · 40 minor.

From our pharmacist’s overview on the Voriconazole page

“Voriconazole (Vfend) is a heavy-hitter antifungal, usually prescribed for dangerous infections like invasive aspergillosis, and its list of 205 interacting supplements includes six rated major, enough that anyone on this drug should read those entries before touching a supplement bottle. Most interactions run through the liver enzymes…”

Reviewed by 2 · Jul 18, 2026

Open the Voriconazole interaction page

One more smart check

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

We hold 803 real supplement products containing Coleus, each one broken down to its full ingredient list — and combination products often carry several ingredients besides Coleus. Your product may carry other ingredients that interact with Voriconazole too, on top of Coleus — and those would not show on this page. Find your product and we’ll check every ingredient on its label:

How much people look this up

Where Coleus and Voriconazole 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 Coleus
Top 25%

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

29 days ago today
Medication Voriconazole
Top half

#836 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.

Supplement

About Coleus

What is Coleus?

Coleus
  • Weight management
  • Asthma and breathing
  • High blood pressure
  • Heart conditions
  • Glaucoma (eye pressure)
  • Exercise and body composition

Coleus is a plant from the mint family whose root contains a compound called forskolin, often marketed for weight loss, asthma, and heart health. While early lab and small human studies are interesting, solid proof that Coleus supplements help any of these conditions is limited. Talk to your pharmacist or doctor before using it, especially if you have heart problems or low blood pressure.

Read the full Coleus monograph & all interactions
Medication

About Voriconazole

What Is Voriconazole Used For?

Brand name: Vfend

Voriconazole treats serious fungal infections. These include invasive aspergillosis (a serious mold infection), candidemia (Candida yeast in the bloodstream) in people who are not neutropenic, and other deep tissue Candida infections.

It is also used for esophageal candidiasis (a Candida infection of the esophagus) and for serious infections caused by Scedosporium apiospermum and Fusarium species in people who cannot tolerate other treatment or whose infection has not responded to it. Esophageal candidiasis is listed for most products, but not for the Voriconazole for injection (intravenous) product in the supplied evidence. Age limits differ by product.

See full Voriconazole drug information Voriconazole NDC codes and packages
Keep checking

Other Drugs & Coleus

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

29Major
887Moderate
0Minor
1,913No known interaction
29 Major 887 Moderate 1,913 No interaction
Major

29 interactions

Moderate

887 interactions

Showing 60 of 887 moderate interactions — see all 887 on the Coleus page.

No interaction 1,913 drugs checked — show the list

We also checked Coleus against these medications and found no known interaction in our sources. Open any page to confirm.

Showing the 60 most looked-up of 1,913 medications checked with no known interaction — see the full Coleus list.

See the full Coleus interactions page
See every supplement checked against Voriconazole, ranked by severity
Sources

Sources & How We Checked

Interaction details are evidence-graded and sourced from the Natural Medicines database. The medication overview comes from MedlinePlus.

Content is written and reviewed by licensed HelloPharmacist pharmacists. See our data sources and editorial standards for how this information is built and checked.

Parts of this content are provided by the Therapeutic Research Center, LLC.

DISCLAIMER: Currently this does not check for drug-drug interactions. This is not an all-inclusive comprehensive list of potential interactions and is for informational purposes only. Not all interactions are known or well-reported in the scientific literature, and new interactions are continually being reported. Input is needed from a qualified healthcare provider including a pharmacist before starting any therapy. Application of clinical judgment is necessary.

© 2021 Therapeutic Research Center, LLC

Keep exploring
Coleus monograph › Uses, safety, and every drug interaction in one place Voriconazole supplement interactions › Every supplement checked against Voriconazole, ranked by severity Voriconazole drug information › The full plain-English guide to this medication Voriconazole NDC codes and packages › Every package, labeler and price in the FDA directory Supplement interaction checker › Check any supplement or product against your medications Browse medications A–Z › Every drug we've checked against herbs & supplements Ask a pharmacist › Free, personal answer from our licensed team
Pharmacist Counseling Corner

Taking Coleus and Voriconazole Together: Common Questions

Can you take Coleus with Voriconazole?
There is a moderate interaction, so it may be acceptable with monitoring or timing changes — but check with your pharmacist first. Read the full details on this page and confirm with your pharmacist before combining them.
Why are there 2 interactions listed for Coleus and Voriconazole?
Voriconazole belongs to more than one drug category, and Coleus interacts with each of those categories a little differently. We list every one so nothing is missed — your overall risk is driven by the most serious of them.
How serious is the Coleus and Voriconazole interaction?
We rate it Moderate. This combination may require monitoring, a dose adjustment, or separating the times you take each one. Consult your pharmacist before using them together.

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

Still Have a Question About Voriconazole and Coleus?

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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.