Hepatitis C, Herbal Products for Liver Diseases,Current Information On Hepatitis C & treatments for the medicalprofessional and patient.

Herbal Products for Liver Diseases:
A Therapeutic Challenge for the New Millennium

table 1. Selection of Herbal Preparations With Proven Hepatotoxicity

Causative Plants	Toxic Agents	Symptoms	Mechanism/Pathology

Crotalaria Senecio Heliotropium Symphytum officinale(Comfrey)	Pyrrolizidine alkaloids	Veno-occlusive disease	Endothelial cell glutathione depletion, central vein necrosis, thrombosis, and fibrosis
Atractylis gummifera	Atractylate, gummiferin	Hepatitis	Inhibition of oxidative phosphorylation, hepatic necrosis
Callilepsis laureola	Atractylate	Hepatitis	Hepatocyte necrosis
Chelidonum majus(greater celandine)	Chelidonine, sanguinarine, berberine, coptisine?	Hepatitis (cholestatic)	Lymphocyte infiltration
Larrea tridentata(chaparral)	Guaiaretic acid derivatives	Hepatitis	?
Teucrium chamaedrys(germander)	Furano-diterpenoids	Hepatitis	Hepatocyte glutathione depletion and apoptosis
Chinese herbal mixtures (artemisia, hare’s ear, chrysanthemum, plantago seed, gardinia, red peony root, etc.)	Largely undefined	Hepatitis	?

NOTE. Data are selected from Larrey and Pageaux,⁵ Kaplowitz,⁶Benninger et al.,⁹ and Yoshida et al.⁴