Question for Barb, , and anyone else Re: Herbalife Products

[Guest guest]

Hi nne;

Here are a couple of recent paper on liver toxicity associated with

HerbaLife:

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J Hepatol. 2009 Jan;50(1):111-7.

Severe hepatotoxicity following ingestion of Herbalife(®)

nutritional supplements contaminated with Bacillus subtilis.

Stickel F, Droz S, Patsenker E, Bögli-Stuber K, Aebi B, Leib SL

Institute of Clinical Pharmacology, University of Bern, Murtenstrasse

35, 3010 Bern, CH, Switzerland.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Nutritional supplements are widely used. Recently,

liver injury after consumption of Herbalife(®) preparations was

reported but the underlying pathogenesis remained cryptic. METHODS:

Two patients presented with cholestatic hepatitis and pruritus, and

cirrhosis, respectively. Viral, alcoholic, metabolic, autoimmune,

neoplastic, vascular liver diseases and synthetic drugs as the

precipitating causes of liver injury were excluded. However, both

patients reported long-term consumption of Herbalife(®) products.

All Herbalife(®) products were tested for contamination with drugs,

pesticides, heavy metals, and softeners, and examined for microbial

contamination according to standard laboratory procedures. Bacteria

isolated from the samples were identified as Bacillus subtilis by

sequencing the 16S rRNA and gyrB genes. RESULTS: Causality between

consumption of Herbalife(®) products and disease according to CIOMS

was scored " probable " in both cases. Histology showed cholestatic and

lobular/portal hepatitis with cirrhosis in one patient, and biliary

fibrosis with ductopenia in the other. No contamination with

chemicals or heavy metals was detected, and immunological testing

showed no drug hypersensitivity. However, samples of Herbalife(®)

products ingested by both patients showed growth of Bacillus subtilis

of which culture supernatants showed dose- and time-dependent

hepatotoxicity. CONCLUSIONS: Two novel incidents of severe hepatic

injury following intake of Herbalife(®) products contaminated with

Bacillus subtilis emphasize its potential hepatotoxicity. PMID:

19010564

_____________________________

J Hepatol. 2007 Oct;47(4):514-20.

Association between consumption of Herbalife nutritional supplements

and acute hepatotoxicity.

Elinav E, Pinsker G, Safadi R, Pappo O, Bromberg M, Anis E, Keinan-

Boker L, Broide E, Ackerman Z, Kaluski DN, Lev B, Shouval D

Liver Unit, Hadassah-Hebrew University Medical Center, Ein-Kerem,

P.O. Box 12000, Jerusalem 91120, Israel.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Nutritional supplements are frequently considered to

be harmless but indiscriminate use of unlabelled ingredients may lead

to significant adverse reactions. METHODS: In 2004, identification of

four index cases of acute hepatitis associated with Herbalife intake

led to a ministry of health investigation in all Israeli hospitals.

Twelve patients with acute idiopathic liver injury in association

with consumption of Herbalife products were investigated. RESULTS:

Eleven of the patients were females, aged 49.5+/-13.4 y. One patient

had stage I primary biliary cirrhosis and another had hepatitis B.

Acute liver injury was diagnosed after 11.9+/-11.1 months of

initiation of Herbalife consumption. Liver biopsies demonstrated

active hepatitis, portal inflammation rich with eosinophils, ductular

reaction and parenchymal inflammation with peri-central accentuation.

One patient developed sub-fulminant and two fulminant episodes of

hepatic failure. Hepatitis resolved in eleven patients, while one

patient succumbed to complications following liver transplantation.

Three patients resumed consumption of Herbalife products following

normalization of liver enzymes, resulting in a second bout of

hepatitis. CONCLUSIONS: An association between intake of Herbalife

products and acute hepatitis was identified in Israel. We call for

prospective evaluation of Herbalife products for possible

hepatotoxicity. Until then, caution should be exercised by consumers,

especially among individuals suffering from underlying liver disease.

PMID: 17692424

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I apologize if you have already seen these.

Best regards,

Dave

(father of (23); PSC 07/03; UC 08/03)

>

> Hi Barb, , and anyone else who can help.

> Would you happen to have any further studies or information to

support the toxicity of Herbalife besides those in the archives? Have

you heard anything else from your colleagues?