Severe hepatotoxicity by Indian Ayurvedic herbal products:

A structured causality assessment 

Autores: Teschke Rolf, Bahre Ruediger

Resumen

The case of a 64 year old female patient is presented who has treated herself for 9 months with various Indian Ayurvedic herbal products for her vitiligo and experienced a causally related severe hepatotoxicity (ALT, 601 U/L; AST, 663 U/L; Bilirubin, 5.0 mg/dL). After discontinuation, a rapid improvement was observed. Causality assessment with the updated CIOMS (Council for International Organizations of Medical Sciences) scale showed a probable causality (+8 points) for Bakuchi tablets containing extracts from Psoralea corylifolia leaves with psoralens as ingredients, as the primary candidate causing the hepatotoxic reaction. The degree of probability was lower with +6 points for other used herbs: Khadin tablets containing extracts from Acacia catechu leaves; Brahmi tablets containing Eclipta alba or Bacopa monnieri; and Usheer tea prepared from Vetivexia zizaniodis. The case is the first report of Indian Ayurvedic herbal products being potentially hepatotoxic in analogy to some other herbs.

Palabras clave: Ayurvedic herbal products hepatotoxicity causality assessment.

2009-11-27   |   792 visitas   |   Evalua este artículo 0 valoraciones

Vol. 8 Núm.3. Julio-Septiembre 2009 Pags. 258-266 Ann Hepatol 2009; 8(3)