Worldwide Occurrence and Investigations of Contamination of Herbal Medicines by Tropane Alkaloids.

Toxins (Basel)

Division of Clinical Pharmacology and Drug and Poisons Information Bureau, Department of Medicine and Therapeutics, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Prince of Wales Hospital, Shatin, New Territories, Hong Kong, China.

Published: September 2017

AI Article Synopsis

  • Tropane alkaloids are toxic compounds primarily found in plants and can contaminate herbal teas and medicinal herbs, leading to anticholinergic poisoning.
  • Most global reports of such poisoning between 1978-2014 are linked to herbal teas and specific prescribed herbs, where contamination typically occurs during harvest or processing.
  • The World Health Organization stresses the need for good agricultural practices and the use of DNA barcoding to identify contaminants, urging that all suspected poisoning cases be reported for public safety.

Article Abstract

Tropane alkaloids occur mainly in plants. In the present review, the main objective is to describe the worldwide occurrence and investigations of anticholinergic poisoning due to the contamination of herbal teas and herbs by tropane alkaloids. Tropane alkaloid poisoning can occur after consumption of any medicinal plant if plants or plant parts are present as contaminants. Globally, almost all reports in 1978-2014 involve herbal teas and one of the prescribed herbs in composite formulae. Contamination most likely occurs during harvest or processing. As for prescribed herbs, on-site inspection is necessary to exclude cross-contamination and accidental mix-up at the retail level. The diagnosis is confirmed by screening for the presence of species and tropane alkaloids. Herbal teas and herbs contaminated by tropane alkaloids can pose a serious health hazard because these relatively heat-stable alkaloids may exist in large quantities. The WHO repeatedly emphasises the importance of good agricultural and collection practices for medicinal plants. DNA barcoding is increasingly used to exclude the presence of contaminants (particularly toxic species) and product substitution. All suspected cases should be reported to health authorities so that investigations along the supply chain and early intervention measures to protect the public can be initiated.

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Source
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5618217PMC
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/toxins9090284DOI Listing

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