Drug & supplement interaction

Thunder God Vine + Palifermin

Palifermin brand name: Kepivance.

No Known Interaction
Medically reviewed by · Updated July 2026 · Pair last verified Sep 20, 2026
The bottom line No known interaction

We found no known interaction between Thunder God Vine and Palifermin 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

Thunder God Vine and Palifermin

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 Palifermin and Thunder God Vine 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.

Thunder God Vine safety at a glance

Thunder God Vine overall Use caution Can be toxic and cause serious harm if prepared or dosed incorrectly; use only under professional guidance.
Pregnancy Likely Unsafe When used orally. Thunder god vine is thought to be teratogenic; avoid using. Read the full pregnancy detail
Breastfeeding Avoid Avoid while breastfeeding due to lack of safety data and potential toxicity.

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 Palifermin and Thunder God Vine? Ask Dr. Brian Staiger, PharmD, BCPS directly ›
How we checked

Why No Interaction Is Listed for Palifermin

Interactions in our licensed database are recorded against drug classes, not just single drug names. Palifermin is filed under a single classification — oral drugs. Thunder God Vine has documented interactions with 4 drug classes — the most serious being cytochrome p450 1a2 (cyp1a2) substrates (moderate), cytochrome p450 3a4 (cyp3a4) inhibitors (moderate) and cytochrome p450 3a4 (cyp3a4) substrates (moderate) — and none of Palifermin’s classifications are among them.

Classification data comes from our licensed Natural Medicines dataset. A medication can belong to classes beyond those recorded there, so this describes how the check was run — it is not a safety guarantee.

Keep it in perspective

Thunder God Vine Does Interact With Other Medications

Thunder God Vine has 849 moderate known drug interactions in our database — Palifermin isn’t one of them. If you take anything else, check it against the full list below.

Moderate 849 No known interaction 1,981 (incl. Palifermin)
Taking anything else?

Check Another of Your Medications Against Thunder God Vine

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

What to actually watch for

No Interaction Found — But Data Suggests Thunder God Vine and Palifermin 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. One of them is worth acting on rather than waiting out — marked below.

  • A higher chance of infection Worth acting on reported in 6.2% of FDA reports for Palifermin Additional detail

    Thunder God Vine

    “Orally, hyperkalemia has occurred in patients with diabetes taking thunder god vine. However, it is unclear whether this was related to the thunder god vine, diabetes, or conventional medications. Deaths related to aplastic anemia associated with the use of non-standardized forms of thunder god vine have been reported.”

    Thunder God Vine · Natural Medicines adverse-effect record, reported in anemia.

    3 sources cited
    1. 97685. Ge Y, Xie H, Li S, et al. Treatment of diabetic nephropathy with Tripterygium wilfordii Hook F extract: a prospective, randomized, controlled clinical trial. J Transl Med. 2013;11:134. PubMed
    2. 97684. Chen Y, Gong Z, Chen X, et al. Tripterygium wilfordii Hook F (a traditional Chinese medicine) for primary nephrotic syndrome. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2013;(8):CD008568.
    3. 112872. Zhang W, Liu X, Xia C, et al. Case report: A rare case of death due to end-stage renal disease caused by Tripterygium wilfordii-induced myelosuppression. Front Med (Lausanne) 2022;9:1036422. PubMed

    Palifermin

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

  • A skin rash reported in 10.1% of FDA reports for Palifermin Additional detail

    Thunder God Vine

    “Orally, thunder god vine can cause hair loss and skin conditions, such as rash and redness. A meta-analysis of Chinese studies found that hair loss and skin reactions were reported in less than 5% of patients taking thunder god vine extract.”

    Thunder God Vine · Natural Medicines adverse-effect record, reported in alopecia.

    6 sources cited
    1. 4046. Tao XL, Sun Y, Dong Y, et al. A prospective, controlled, double-blind, cross-over study of tripterygium wilfodii hook F in treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. Chin Med J 1989;102:327-32.
    2. 10675. Tao X, Younger J, Fan FZ, et al. Benefit of an extract of Tripterygium Wilfordii Hook F in patients with rheumatoid arthritis: a double-blind, placebo-controlled study. Arthritis Rheum 2002;46:1735-43..
    3. 10676. Tao X, Cush JJ, Garret M, Lipsky PE. A phase I study of ethyl acetate extract of the chinese antirheumatic herb Tripterygium wilfordii hook F in rheumatoid arthritis. J Rheumatol 2001;28:2160-7..
    4. 77931. Tao, X., Sun, Y., and Zhang, N. [Treatment of rheumatoid arthritis with low doses of multi-glycosides of Tripterygium wilfordii]. Zhong.Xi.Yi.Jie.He.Za Zhi. 1990;10(5):289-2.
    5. 97684. Chen Y, Gong Z, Chen X, et al. Tripterygium wilfordii Hook F (a traditional Chinese medicine) for primary nephrotic syndrome. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2013;(8):CD008568.
    6. 104137. Ru Y, Luo Y, Zhou Y, et al. Adverse events associated with treatment of Tripterygium wilfordii Hook F: a quantitative evidence synthesis. Front Pharmacol 2019;10:1250. PubMed

    Palifermin

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

  • Swelling Additional detail

    Thunder God Vine

    “Orally, thunder god vine has been associated with ventricular tachyarrhythmias and diastolic hypertension. Swelling of the lower limbs has also been reported.”

    Thunder God Vine · Natural Medicines adverse-effect record, reported in hypertension.

    3 sources cited
    1. 77918. Huang, H. H., Yen, D. H., Wu, M. L., Deng, J. F., Huang, C. I., and Lee, C. H. Acute Erycibe henryi Prain ("Ting Kung Teng") poisoning. Clin.Toxicol.(Phila) 2006;44(1):71-75. PubMed
    2. 10676. Tao X, Cush JJ, Garret M, Lipsky PE. A phase I study of ethyl acetate extract of the chinese antirheumatic herb Tripterygium wilfordii hook F in rheumatoid arthritis. J Rheumatol 2001;28:2160-7..
    3. 97683. Wu C, Jin HZ, Shu D, et al. Efficacy and safety of Tripterygium wilfordii hook F versus acitretin in moderate to severe psoriasis vulgaris: a randomized clinical trial. Chin Med J (Engl). 2015;128(4):443-9. PubMed

    Palifermin

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

Reported for Thunder God Vine but not commonly for Palifermin: changes to your period, stomach upset, kidney problems and erection problems.

Effects for Palifermin come from the ADVERSE REACTIONS section of its FDA label; effects for Thunder God Vine come from the Natural Medicines adverse-effect record, quoted above. Where a percentage is shown, it is the share of 388 voluntary FDA FAERS reports for Palifermin 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

Thunder God Vine in Pregnancy & Breastfeeding

Pregnancy Likely Unsafe

When used orally. Thunder god vine is thought to be teratogenic; avoid using.

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 Palifermin Is Prescribed For, and What Thunder God Vine Has Been Studied For

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

Palifermin is prescribed for: Kepivance (palifermin) is used to decrease how often and how long severe oral mucositis — painful sores in the mouth and throat — occurs in patients with hematologic malignancies (blood cancers such as lymphoma, leukemia, or multiple myeloma) who are receiving high-dose, cell-damaging (myelotoxic) therapy before an autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplant (a transplant using the patient's own stem cells). Kepivance is specifically indicated when the preparative chemotherapy or radiation regimen is expected to cause severe mucositis in most patients. It is not recommended for use with a high-dose melphalan conditioning regimen, and it was not found to be effective in the setting of allogeneic stem cell transplant (using a donor's cells). Its safety and effectiveness have not been established for patients with non-blood cancers (non-hematologic malignancies).

Thunder God Vine has been studied for:

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

    Thunder God Vine for cancer

    Although there is interest in using oral thunder god vine for cancer, there is insufficient reliable information about the clinical effects of thunder god vine for this condition.

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 Palifermin on your own; if you are taking Thunder God Vine for the same health topic, tell your prescriber, especially if the medicine is being adjusted to a target.

Everything else you take

See Every Supplement That Interacts With Palifermin

This page covers Thunder God Vine only. If you take other supplements — a multivitamin, a sleep aid, something for joints — the Palifermin page lists 17 supplements it has a documented interaction with, worst first, each one explained.

The most serious there right now: Activated Charcoal (major), Coffee Charcoal (moderate), European Mandrake (moderate), Glucomannan (moderate) and Guar Gum (moderate).

By severity: 1 major · 7 moderate · 9 minor.

From our pharmacist’s overview on the Palifermin page

“Palifermin (Kepivance) is given by IV to prevent the severe mouth sores that intensive chemotherapy can cause, most often in patients heading into a stem cell transplant, and I read its interaction list with genuine caution because of how fragile those patients already are. All 17 supplements on file act on absorption through the gut,…”

Reviewed by 2 · Jul 18, 2026

Open the Palifermin interaction page

How much people look this up

Where Thunder God Vine and Palifermin 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 Thunder God Vine
Steady interest

#1,046 of 1,452 supplements looked up here in the last 7 days

29 days ago today
Medication Palifermin
Steady interest

#2,097 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 Thunder God Vine reference on this page ↓
  • Freshness: we automatically re-check this combination every week — this pair was last verified September 20, 2026. The Thunder God Vine and Palifermin records this page draws on were last updated July 11, 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 Thunder God Vine

What is Thunder God Vine?

Thunder God Vine
  • Rheumatoid arthritis
  • Lupus and autoimmune conditions
  • Inflammation
  • Skin conditions like psoriasis
  • Immune-related disorders

Thunder God Vine is a Chinese herb studied mainly for rheumatoid arthritis and other autoimmune conditions, with some promising but limited evidence. It can be toxic if prepared or dosed improperly, and may cause serious side effects, so it should only be used under medical supervision. Avoid it during pregnancy and breastfeeding.

Tripterygium wilfordii · Celastraceae · Root (the inner root and root bark), prepared to remove toxic outer layers · Capsules, tablets, extracts, and topical preparations (often standardized root extracts)

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

Thunder God Vine: dosing

There is no single agreed-upon safe dose for Thunder God Vine, and products differ a lot in how they are made and how strong they are. Because the herb can be toxic, the difference between a helpful amount and a harmful amount may be small.If a healthcare provider recommends it, follow the product label and your provider's directions exactly. Do not use homemade preparations or raw plant material.

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

Read the full Thunder God Vine monograph & all interactions
Medication

About Palifermin

What Is Palifermin Used For?

Brand name: Kepivance

Kepivance (palifermin) is used to decrease how often and how long severe oral mucositis — painful sores in the mouth and throat — occurs in patients with hematologic malignancies (blood cancers such as lymphoma, leukemia, or multiple myeloma) who are receiving high-dose, cell-damaging (myelotoxic) therapy before an autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplant (a transplant using the patient's own stem cells).

Kepivance is specifically indicated when the preparative chemotherapy or radiation regimen is expected to cause severe mucositis in most patients. It is not recommended for use with a high-dose melphalan conditioning regimen, and it was not found to be effective in the setting of allogeneic stem cell transplant (using a donor's cells). Its safety and effectiveness have not been established for patients with non-blood cancers (non-hematologic malignancies).

Most-Reported Side Effects for Palifermin

From FAERS, the FDA’s public side-effect reporting system (388 reports, all brands). Reports are voluntary and are not proof the drug caused the effect.

Mucosal inflammation 56 reports
Febrile neutropenia 39 reports
Rash 39 reports
Stomatitis 34 reports
Erythema 28 reports
See full Palifermin drug information
Keep checking

Other Drugs & Thunder God Vine

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

0Major
849Moderate
0Minor
1,980No known interaction
849 Moderate 1,980 No interaction
Moderate

849 interactions

Showing 60 of 849 moderate interactions — see all 849 on the Thunder God Vine page.

No interaction 1,980 drugs checked — show the list

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

Showing the 60 most looked-up of 1,980 medications checked with no known interaction — see the full Thunder God Vine list.

See the full Thunder God Vine interactions page
See every supplement checked against Palifermin, ranked by severity
Evidence & sources

Thunder God Vine References

The 33 references that drive our Thunder God Vine 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. Tao XL, Sun Y, Dong Y, et al. A prospective, controlled, double-blind, cross-over study of tripterygium wilfodii hook F in treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. Chin Med J 1989;102:327-32.
  2. Takei A, Nagashima G, Suzuki R, et al. Meningoencephalocele associated with Tripterygium wilfordii treatment. Pediatr Neurosurg 1997;27:45-8. PubMed
  3. Zhen QS, Ye X, Wei ZJ. Recent progress in research on Tripterygium: a male antifertility plant. Contraception 1995;51:121-9.. PubMed
  4. Tao X, Younger J, Fan FZ, et al. Benefit of an extract of Tripterygium Wilfordii Hook F in patients with rheumatoid arthritis: a double-blind, placebo-controlled study. Arthritis Rheum 2002;46:1735-43..
  5. Tao X, Cush JJ, Garret M, Lipsky PE. A phase I study of ethyl acetate extract of the chinese antirheumatic herb Tripterygium wilfordii hook F in rheumatoid arthritis. J Rheumatol 2001;28:2160-7..
  6. Jiang L, Zhao N, Ni L. Retrospective study of adverse events in patients with rheumatoid arthritis treated with second-line drugs. Zhonghua Liu Xing Bing Xue Za Zhi 2002;23:213-7..
  7. Qian SZ, Hu YZ, Wang SM, et al. Effects of Tripterygium hypoglaucum (Levl.) Hutch on male fertility. Adv Contracept 1988;4:307-10..
  8. Li, L. F. Treatment of pyoderma gangrenosum with oral Tripterygium wilfordii multiglycoside. J Dermatol. 2000;27(7):478-481.
  9. Huang, H. H., Yen, D. H., Wu, M. L., Deng, J. F., Huang, C. I., and Lee, C. H. Acute Erycibe henryi Prain ("Ting Kung Teng") poisoning. Clin.Toxicol.(Phila) 2006;44(1):71-75. PubMed
  10. Tao, X., Sun, Y., and Zhang, N. [Treatment of rheumatoid arthritis with low doses of multi-glycosides of Tripterygium wilfordii]. Zhong.Xi.Yi.Jie.He.Za Zhi. 1990;10(5):289-2.
  11. Wang, B. X. and Yuan, Z. Z. [A tablet of Tripterygium wilfordii in treating lupus erythematosus]. Zhong.Xi.Yi.Jie.He.Za Zhi. 1989;9(7):407-8, 389.
  12. Jia, T. H., Sun, H. C., Wang, X. X., Xiu, H. M., Ding, W. D., Hao, X. D., Wu, L., Wang, G. X., and Lei, J. Z. Ultrastructural observation on macrophage-lymphocyte interactions in semen from Tripterygium wilfordii Hook.f. takers. Chin Med J (Engl.) 1994;1
  13. Wang Z, Yu C, Zhou LN, Chen X. Effects of Tripterygium wilfordii induction therapy to IgA nephropathy patients with heavy proteinuria. Biol Pharm Bull. 2017;40(11):1833-1838.
  14. Zhang Q, Chen X, Chen S, Liu Z, Wan R, Li J. Fatal honey poisoning caused by Tripterygium wilfordii Hook F in southwest China: A case series. Wilderness Environ Med. 2016;27(2):271-3.
  15. Liu S, Li X, Li H, Liang Q, Chen J, Chen J. Comparison of Tripterygium wilfordii multiglycosides and tacrolimus in the treatment of idiopathic membranous nephropathy: a prospective cohort study. BMC Nephrol. 2015;16:200. PubMed

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 Thunder God Vine and Palifermin Together: Common Questions

Is it safe to take Thunder God Vine with Palifermin?
We do not list a known interaction between Thunder God Vine and Palifermin. 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 Thunder God Vine and Palifermin 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 Thunder God Vine and Palifermin 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 Thunder God Vine in each. That is a conversation for your prescriber, especially if Palifermin is being adjusted to a target.
How was the Thunder God Vine and Palifermin combination checked?
Interactions in our licensed database are recorded against drug classes. Palifermin is filed under 1 classification, and Thunder God Vine has documented interactions with 4 drug classes — none of Palifermin's classifications are among them. A medication can belong to classes beyond those recorded in our dataset, so this describes how the check was run rather than guaranteeing safety.
Does Thunder God Vine interact with any other medications?
Yes. Thunder God Vine has 849 documented drug interactions in our database — Palifermin is simply not one of them. If you take anything else, it is worth checking each one; they are all listed on this page.
Does Palifermin interact with any supplements?
Yes. Palifermin has documented interactions with 17 supplements in our database — Thunder God Vine is not one of them. The Palifermin interaction page linked on this page lists every one, ranked by severity.

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

Where next

Keep Exploring

Thunder God Vine monograph Uses, safety profile, and every drug interaction in one place Palifermin drug information The full plain-English guide to this medication Palifermin supplement interactions Every supplement checked against Palifermin, ranked by severity Supplement interaction checker Check any supplement or product against your medications Browse medications A–Z Every drug we’ve checked against herbs & supplements References The 33 citations behind this page Ask a pharmacist Free, personal answer from our licensed team

Still Have a Question About Palifermin and Thunder God Vine?

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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.