Pennyroyal, toxicity

Anderson IB, Mullen WH, Meeker JE, Khojasteh-Bakht SC, Oishi S, Nelson SD, Blanc PD. Pennyroyal toxicity measurement of toxic metabolite levels in two cases and review of the hterature. Ann Intern Med I996 I24(8) 726-34. 

Anderson, I., Mullen, W., Meeker, J., Khojasteh-Bakht, S., Oishi, S., Nelson, S., and Blanc, P. 1996. Pennyroyal toxicity Measurement of toxic metabolite levels in two cases and review of the literature. Ann. Intern. Med. 124, 726-734. 

A review of pennyroyal toxicity identified 22 adverse events from 1883 to 1996, most of which involved oral consumption of the essential oil at doses greater than 10 ml. Four cases had fatal outcomes the remaining cases had mild to severe outcomes ranging from nausea, dizziness, and dilation of pupils to respiratory depression, generalized seizures, and... 

Two cases of serious or fatal toxicity have been described in two infants who had been treated with herbal tea containing pennyroyal oil (4). One infant developed fulminant liver failure with cerebral edema and necrosis the other infant developed hepatic dysfunction and a severe epileptic encephalopathy. 

Pennyroyal iHedeomii pulegeoides. Mentha piiU Kiiim) is an example of an extremely toxic herh. The plant is a member of the mint family. Labialae. The dried leaves and flowering tops of the plant contain from 16 to 0% oil. consisting of... 

Pennyroyal oil Moderate to severe toxicity with ingestion oi more than 10 mL. Fatai coma and hepatic necrosis occurred after ingestion oi 30 mL by an 18-year-oid woman. N-acetylcysteine may be effective in preventing hepatic necrosis. 

European pennyroyal leaf contains 1.0-2.0% essential oil consisting of 80.0-94.0% pulegone (List and Horhammer 1973), a compound that causes severe liver toxicity when administered to rats in high doses (Gordon et al. 1987 Mizutani et al. 1987 Speijers 2001 Sztajnkrycer et al. 2003). 

Pennyroyal essential oil has been traditionally used as an abortifacient (Conway and Slocumb 1979 De Smet 1992 Williamson 2003). Although animal or other studies on the use of pennyroyal essential oil during pregnancy and lactation are lacking, the content of the potentially toxic... 

European peony was listed as an ingredient in a traditional abortifacient formula. Among formulas listed, some commonly consumed nontoxic plants are listed (i.e., kidney bean and pomegranate) along with other plants recognized to be toxic or inappropriate for use in pregnancy (i.e., pennyroyal). Parts and doses of botani-cals used in these formulas were not listed (Madari and Jacobs 2004). 

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