Chinese botanicals & hepatotoxicity

Executive Summary

Synthetic chemical N-nitroso-fenfluramine may be responsible for poisoning livers of 12 patients in Japan who took Chaso or Onshido botanical supplements, Masayuki Adachi, MD, Keio University, Tokyo, et al. report in September Annals of Internal Medicine. Record review of 12 patients revealed symptoms including fatigue, appetite loss that appeared five to 40 days after ingestion. One patient died, while another received a liver transplant, Adachi et al. state. The other 10 patients' conditions improved. "Severity of hepatotoxicity does not seem to correlate with duration of use or the amount of product ingested," the researchers note. Adachi and colleagues suggest further toxicologic analysis of the Chinese botanicals...