Herbal Weight Loss Aids Tied to Liver Injury
Mon September 15, 2003 05:37 PM ET
NEW YORK (Reuters Health)

Several Japanese patients suffered liver injury after taking Chaso and Onshido--two Chinese herbal weight-loss aids -- according to a new report.
Both products were found to contain a variant of fenfluramine, a weight loss drug that was taken off the market in the US after being linked to heart problems.

The current findings, which are reported in the Annals of Internal Medicine, are based on a study of 12 patients who presented with herb-related liver injury between April and July 2002. Six patients had taken Chaso and six had taken Onshido.

All of the patients had markedly abnormal liver laboratory tests, study author Dr. Hiromasa Ishii, from Keio University School of Medicine in Tokyo, and colleagues note.

Although the liver injury typically resolved without consequence, patients were often hospitalized for more than a month. Still, two patients did develop run-away liver failure: one required transplantation and the other died after being hospitalized for 45 days.

According to the manufacturers, both products strictly include only botanical ingredients. However, testing of both revealed the presence of N-nitroso-fenfluramine.

"Although it is not clear why these products contained N-nitroso-fenfluramine, it might have been added by the manufacturers to enhance the weight loss effect of fenfluramine or to mask the presence of fenfluramine," the authors note.

"We highlight the need for increased awareness among individuals, including medical professionals, of the potential toxicity risks of some herbal weight loss aids," they conclude.

SOURCE: Annals of Internal Medicine, September 16, 2003.

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