Aristolochic acid is a natural chemical compound found in certain plants. It can be harmful to humans when consumed or exposed to for a long time. It has been found to cause kidney damage and cancer, so it's important to avoid it.
Full definition
Sometimes known as birthwort, Aristolochia
contains aristolochic acid, which can cause kidney and liver damage and bladder cancer.
By analyzing numerous samples from Taiwan and other countries in Asia and elsewhere, Ng et al. demonstrated the effects
of aristolochic acid in hepatocellular carcinoma, a much more common tumor type.
Dr. Donald M. Marcus, professor emeritus of medicine and immunology at Baylor, and Dr. Arthur P. Grollman, distinguished professor of pharmacological sciences at Stony Brook University, discuss the scientific evidence showing that the plant Aristolochia can
cause aristolochic acid nephropathy (AAN).
Today aristolochic acid — pronounced «a-ris-to-LOW-kick» — is found in supplements for weight loss, menstrual symptoms, and rheumatism.
Genomic sequencing experts at Johns Hopkins partnered with pharmacologists at Stony Brook University to reveal a striking mutational signature of upper urinary tract cancers caused
by aristolochic acid, a plant compound contained in herbal remedies used for thousands of years to treat a variety of ailments such as arthritis, gout and inflammation.
«Genome - wide sequencing has allowed us to
tie aristolochic acid exposure directly to an individual getting cancer,» Kenneth Kinzler, Ph.D., professor of oncology in the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center's Ludwig Center for Cancer Genetics and Therapeutics.
Many traditional pharmacopeias include Aristolochia and related plants, which contain nephrotoxins and mutagens in the form
of aristolochic acids and similar compounds (collectively, AA).
Product samples were tested for Salmonella, metals, furans, pesticides, antibiotics, mycotoxins, rodenticides, nephrotoxins (such
as aristolochic acid, maleic acid, paraquat, ethylene glycol, diethylene glycol, toxic hydrocarbons, melamine and related triazines) and were screened for other chemicals and poisonous compounds.
Aristolochic acids and their derivatives are widely implicated in liver cancers in Taiwan and throughout Asia
The ingredient in question is
aristolochic acid, a compound found in leafy, flowery vines called Aristolochia, or birthwort.
Mutational signatures reveal high burdens of
aristolochic acid — related mutations in Asian liver cancers, with Taiwan most intensely affected.
Aristolochic acid, an herbal compound found in many traditional medicines, had been previously linked to kidney failure, as well as cancers of the urinary tract.
In 2001, the Food and Drug Administration issued a consumer advisory note about dietary supplements and other products containing
aristolochic acid, calling for its use to be discontinued.
For the current study, the Johns Hopkins and Stony Brook team used whole - exome sequencing on 19 Taiwanese upper urinary tract cancer patients exposed to
aristolochic acid, and seven patients with no suspected exposure to the toxin.
These UTUC patients were from Taiwan, where the occurrence of UTUC is high due to the medicinal use of herbs containing
aristolochic acids, which are associated with kidney damage and urinary tract cancer.
«This indicates strongly that
aristolochic acid was one of the causes of these cancers.»
When a member of Rozen's team spotted the same type of mutation in liver cancer, the group wondered if plants that contain
aristolochic acid might increase a person's risk of developing the disease.