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Greece and Rome
Published in Michael J. O’Dowd, The History of Medications for Women, 2020
The root of the herb libanotis (its modern equivalent is unidentified) was used to promote lactation and also for ‘diseases of women’. Birthwort (Aristolochia clematitis, a uterine stimulant, antibacterial and antiinflammatory) was used as a lotion in cases of prolapsed uterus and for other ‘disorders of the womb’. Flowers of the plant were seen to resemble a fetus and probably led to the herb’s common name: according to the doctrine of signatures the shape or color of a plant indicated its purpose. The Cretan dittany plant (wild marjoram, Origanum dictamnus, an inducer of menstruation, rarely mentioned nowadays, and sacred to the goddess Dictyna of Mount Dicte, Crete) was used by women to ease the pains of childbirth. Cretan dittany apart, the other medications for women detailed by Theophrastus had proven efficacy and were still used in more modern times.
Risk characterisation of constituents present in jamu to promote its safe use
Published in Critical Reviews in Toxicology, 2021
Suparmi Suparmi, Dasep Wahidin, Ivonne M. C. M. Rietjens
AAs, including AA-I and AA-II, are nephrotoxic and carcinogenic compounds (Kumar et al. 2003). They are classified as group 1 carcinogens and belong to the most potent 2% of known carcinogens (IARC 2007; Stiborova et al. 2009). Aristolochic acid nephropathy (AAN) is potentially a crucial problem in the Asian area since a lot of people in this region still are convinced that traditional Chinese herbal medicines, which frequently contain AA producing plants, are safer than chemically produced “Western” drugs (Hong et al. 2006). AAN was reported in Belgium in 1991, where over 100 young women suffered from end-stage renal disease and in several cases cancer in the kidneys and the upper urinary tract due to the confusing nomenclature, resulting in a replacement of Stephania tetrandra (“Han Fang Ji”) by Aristolochia fangchi (“Guang Fang Ji”) in a Chinese herb-based weight-loss preparation (Gillerot et al. 2001). Similar to incidences of AAN, Balkan endemic nephropathy (BEN) occurring in Balkan regions in the 1950s, was ascribed to flour contaminated with Aristolochia clematitis (Arlt et al. 2002; Jelaković et al. 2014). More cases of AAN were reported in other countries including Spain, Japan, France, Belgium, UK, Taiwan, USA, Germany, China, Korea, Hong Kong, Australia, and Bangladesh (Gillerot et al. 2001; Jadot et al. 2017). Due to the severity of AAN and the past incidences, the use of AA-containing botanicals, especially Aristolochia sp. (Aristolochiaceae) is banned since 2001 in many countries worldwide (Debelle et al. 2008; Heinrich et al. 2009), including Indonesia (BPOM-RI 2001).
Critical review of renal tubule karyomegaly in non-clinical safety evaluation studies and its significance for human risk assessment
Published in Critical Reviews in Toxicology, 2018
For many decades it was contended that food contamination with OTA was the cause of a chronic renal disease in humans, affecting subsistence farming communities of low-lying areas along tributaries of the Danube River, an entity known as Balkan Endemic Nephropathy (BEN). However, in 2007, Grollman et al. provided evidence that an important etiological factor underlying this environmental disease was exposure to aristolochic acids, presumably derived from ingestion of products of Aristolochia clematitis, a common arable weed in the Balkan areas endemic for BEN. Because BEN is a terminal disease and associated with renal pelvic urothelial carcinoma development, kidneys have been available since the 1950s for detailed pathological examination from biopsy and diagnostic autopsy material. There have been many published descriptions of BEN pathology (Ferluga et al. 1991; Vukelic et al. 1992), but the reports have not mentioned presence of renal tubule karyomegaly.
Using herbs medically without knowing their composition: are we playing Russian roulette?
Published in Current Medical Research and Opinion, 2022
Orly F. Kohn, Susie Q. Lew, Steve Siu-Man Wong, Ramin Sam, Hung-Chun Chen, Jochen G. Raimann, David J. Leehey, Antonios H. Tzamaloukas, Todd S. Ing
The chronic use of herbs was associated with a 20% increased risk of developing chronic kidney disease in Taiwan. Specifically, the proportion of herbal users quantitatively correlated with the severity of renal failure16. More recently, aristolochic acid, from Aristolochia clematitis which grows mingled in the wheat fields of the Balkans was also found to be the long-sought cause of Balkan Nephropathy17. In addition, myriad other nephrotoxic herbs exist that can result in an array of kidney syndromes, including acute tubular necrosis, interstitial nephritis, proximal or distal tubulopathy, papillary necrosis, nephrolithiasis and urinary retention18,19.