Pharm World Sci

Acute hepatitis in a patient using a Chinese herbal tea--a case report.

Year 1998
Levi M. Guchelaar HJ. Woerdenbag HJ. Zhu YP.
Department of Internal Medicine, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
A case is presented of reversible acute hepatitis in a patient using a Chinese herbal tea. Upon identification of the tea mixture Aristolochia species, including A. debilis, which contains the highly toxic aristolochic acid, could be identified. We conclude that the acute hepatitis as described in this patient is most likely to be caused by (one of) the active ingredients of the Chinese herbal tea. Furthermore, this case illustrates that so-called natural products can cause unexpected severe adverse reactions.