(if you use Kava) Kava Linked To Liver Damage, New Evidence Shows

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Kava Linked To Liver Damage, New Evidence Shows

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080222111446.htm

Scientists have found new evidence, using innovative techniques, to

support the growing body of literature that indicates kava may have a

negative effect on the liver. Kava is a plant native to the South

Pacific that has been used as a ceremonial beverage in the region for

thousands of years, and, more recently, as a natural treatment for

medical conditions such as anxiety.

In recent years, serious concerns about the dangers of kava and the

effects on the liver have resulted in regulatory agencies, such as

the US Food and Drug Administration and Australia's Therapeutic Goods

Administration, banning or restricting the sale of kava and kava

products.

Originally from Fiji, where kava drinking is common, Professor Iqbal

Ramzan, Dean of Pharmacy at the University of Sydney, Australia, had

previously published articles on the adverse effects of kava, and

wanted to investigate further the effects kava had on the liver.

Leading a team of researchers from the University of Sydney,

Professor Ramzan spent one year investigating the cellular effects of

kava on the liver. Kava has been used in ceremonies and for

recreational and social purposes in the South Pacific since ancient

times, much like alcohol, tea or coffee is in other societies today.

In the 1980s other medicinal uses for kava began to emerge and it was

marketed in herbal form as a natural way to treat conditions such as

anxiety, insomnia, tension and restlessness, particularly in Europe

and North America.

More recently, evidence began to emerge about the adverse affect kava

could have on the liver.

To test these theories, the University of Sydney study focused on the

major kavalactone (the ingredient in kava believed to affect the

liver) -- kavain -- and investigated the effects it had on the

ultrastructure (or biological structure) of the liver.

This required the use of electron microscopes (which enable the

examination of the interior of cells) provided by the Australian Key

Centre for Microscopy and Microanalysis at the University of Sydney

under the direction of its Deputy Director, Professor Filip Braet.

The study found that following kavain treatment the liver tissue

displayed an overall change in structure, including the narrowing of

blood vessels, the constriction of blood vessel passages and the

retraction of the cellular lining.

Interestingly, kavain also adversely affected certain cells which

function in the destruction of foreign antigens (such as bacteria and

viruses), which make up part of the body's immune system.

In other words, the kavain treatment disturbed the basic structure of

the liver, consequently seriously impacting the normal functioning of

the liver.

The results of the University of Sydney's study clearly support

earlier literature observations on kava's adverse affects on the

functioning of the liver in general.

However, additional investigations into the effects of other major

kavalactones on the liver, as well as studies on whether the effects

of kava are reversible, are urgently needed.

Journal reference: Fu S, Korkmaz E, Braet F, Ngo Q, Ramzan I.

Influence of kavain on hepatic ultrastructure. World J Gastroenterol

2008 January 28; 14(4): 541-546 http://www.wjgnet.com/1007-

9327/14/541.aps