Acute liver failure induced by green tea extracts

Oswizle

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Liver Transpl. 2006 Nov 28;12(12):1892-1895 [Pubmed] [Scholar] [Select] [Drop] [Hide] [Show]

Acute liver failure induced by green tea extracts: Case report and review of the literature.

Michele Molinari, Kymberly D S Watt, Thomas Kruszyna, Rebecca Nelson, Mark Walsh, Weei-Yuan Huang, Bjorn Nashan, Kevork Peltekian

In industrialized countries, over-the-counter dietary supplements have become popular in preventing and treating an expanding list of medical conditions. Although most commercially available supplements have not been rigorously tested for safety and efficacy, they have found an enlarging market because they are considered natural. Oral supplements containing green tea extract have been marketed as effective for weight loss and to prevent and cure some solid tumors. Although there is little scientific evidence of the effectiveness of green tea extracts to improve the quality of health of regular consumers, there is an increasing body of medical literature supporting the hypothesis that they can cause serious side effects. Our experience adds to previous reports of acute liver toxicity observed in individuals consuming supplements containing green tea extract. We highlight the importance of obtaining a detailed history of dietary supplement consumption when evaluating a patient presenting with acute liver dysfunction. Liver Transpl 12:1892-1895, 2006. (c) 2006 AASLD
 
poison

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First protein, now this? What next, fish oil?
 
bioman

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It'd be nice if they gave some of the details like how much GTE was consumed or if the patients had existing liver ailments.
 
bpmartyr

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yeahright

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Well, I'm certainly not doubting that it's possible to damage one's liver with green tea extract (or too much of anything for that matter) but this does go against the weight of the evidence which indicates that GTE actually has hepaprotective properties:

Green Tea Suppresses Lipopolysaccharide-Induced Liver Injury in D-Galactosamine-Sensitized Rats -- He et al. 131 (5): 1560 -- Journal of Nutrition

Green tea polyphenols prevent toxin-induced hepatotoxicity in mice by down-regulating inducible nitric oxide-derived prooxidants -- Chen et al. 80 (3): 742 -- American Journal of Clinical Nutrition

Prevention of hepatic ischemia-reperfusion injury by green tea extract -- Zhong et al. 283 (4): 957 -- AJP - Gastrointestinal and Liver Physiology

I did find a few references to green tea extract induced liver damage so this is real at some level. Millions of people are taking GTE so I'm wondering if these are people with unfortunate predispositions to liver damage or whether they're just the obvious ones and the rest of us are walking around not knowing? It would be interesting to learn the details.
 
bioman

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It may also be an issue of quality. I have read that most GTE's are high in flouride. If a person got exposed to enough flouride..a whole lotta nasty things could happen.
 
bpmartyr

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It may also be an issue of quality. I have read that most GTE's are high in flouride. If a person got exposed to enough flouride..a whole lotta nasty things could happen.
Exactly why I don't drink tap water.
 

DazzlinJack

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i'll take acute liver failure over getting cancer any day. all hail the antioxidant power of EGCG!
 
Rivet

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I remember reading once that too much GT being absorbed could make it go from being an anti oxidant to pro oxidant. I don't remember where I saw that however or how accurate that the info was.
 

meowmeow

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i'll take acute liver failure over getting cancer any day. all hail the antioxidant power of EGCG!
You really don't want to ever have to have either disease.

I am going to start having an independent lab test the organic herbs I buy for heavy meals, E Coli and contaminants...this is not cost effective for most but I think I'll start doing that as a matter of routine.

Maybe I should also have the supps I buy tested as well...hmmmm...
 
bioman

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It's really not a bad idea to test if you buy in bulk. How much a test for flouride content would be, I have no idea.

I for one, would like to see more detailed info on this potential GTE-liver failure link before speculating any further on the issue. I know from experience that 98% ECGC is darn potent stuff.
 

Scrat

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I drink 3-6 cups of green tea per day and I agree with a lot of what has been said. They never said the amount that causes acute liver failure. I could easily perform a study claiming sun exposure gives you skin cancer but everyone knows it's extreme amounts that could.
 
phaeton66

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You really don't want to ever have to have either disease.

I am going to start having an independent lab test the organic herbs I buy for heavy meals, E Coli and contaminants...this is not cost effective for most but I think I'll start doing that as a matter of routine.

Maybe I should also have the supps I buy tested as well...hmmmm...
That would make a seriously cool service which I for one would subscribe to.

-p66
 

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