Kava Hepatotoxicity
Authors: Stefan Russmann, Bernhard H. Lauterburg, Arthur Helbling
Journal: Annals of Internal Medicine (2001)

Letters3 July 2001Kava HepatotoxicityStefan Russmann, MD, Bernhard H. Lauterburg, MD, and Arthur Helbling, MDStefan Russmann, MDUniversity of Bern; 3010 Bern, Switzerland (Russmann, Lauterburg)Inselspital; 3010 Bern, Switzerland (Helbling), Bernhard H. Lauterburg, MDUniversity of Bern; 3010 Bern, Switzerland (Russmann, Lauterburg)Inselspital; 3010 Bern, Switzerland (Helbling), and Arthur Helbling, MDUniversity of Bern; 3010 Bern, Switzerland (Russmann, Lauterburg)Inselspital; 3010 Bern, Switzerland (Helbling)Author, Article, and Disclosure Informationhttps://doi.org/10.7326/0003-4819-135-1-200107030-00036 SectionsAboutFull TextPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail TO THE EDITOR:Phytotherapeutic preparations for sleep and anxiety disorders that contain kava-lactones are available over the counter in many countries. A 33-year-old woman took the drug Laitan (Schwabe Pharma AG, Kuessnacht, Switzerland) (210 mg of kava-lactones daily) for 3 weeks. The patient reported intake of no other drugs except the homeopathic medication Exsepta (Tentan AG, Rothrist, Switzerland). Two months later, she restarted use of the kava preparation. After another 3 weeks, 1 day after intake of 60 g of alcohol, she developed malaise, loss of appetite, and jaundice. Levels of aminotransferases, bilirubin, and alkaline phosphatase were elevated 60-, 15- ...References1. Nyfeler B, Pichler WJ. The lymphocyte transformation test for the diagnosis of drug allergy: sensitivity and specificity. Clin Exp Allergy. 1997;27:175-81. [PMID: 0009061217] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar2. Duffield AM, Jamieson DD, Lidgard RO, Duffield PH, Bourne DJ. Identification of some human urinary metabolites of the intoxicating beverage kava. J Chromatogr. 1989;475:273-81. [PMID: 0002777959] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar3. 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[PMID: 0006479680] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar Author, Article, and Disclosure InformationAffiliations: University of Bern; 3010 Bern, Switzerland (Russmann, Lauterburg)Inselspital; 3010 Bern, Switzerland (Helbling) PreviousarticleNextarticle Advertisement FiguresReferencesRelatedDetailsSee AlsoTwo Patients with Acute Liver Injury Associated with Use of the Herbal Weight-Loss Supplement Hydroxycut Tyler Stevens , Asif Qadri , and Nizar N. 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