Aristolochia clematitis
| Aristolochia clematitis | |
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| Species: | A. clematitis
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| Aristolochia clematitis | |
Aristolochia clematitis, (European) Birthwort, is a twining herbaceous plant in the Aristolochiaceae family, which is native to Europe. The leaves are heart shaped and the flowers are pale yellow and tubular in form. The plant seeks light by ascending the stems of surrounding plants.
Medicinal problems
It was formerly used as a medicinal plant, though it is poisonous, and is now occasionally found established outside of its native range as a relic of cultivation. It is now known to be the cause of thousands of kidney failures in Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia and Croatia where the plant is unintentionally consumed through contaminated flour.[1] Urinary tract malignacies among those who have consumed the plant are also reported.[2] The link with the plant's content of aristolochic acid was discovered after a clinic for obesity in Belgium used herbal products based on another plant of the same genus as a diuretic. After a few months, some of the patients experienced kidney failure.[3]
See also
References
- ^ Grollman, Arthur P. et al.(2007). http://www.pnas.org/content/104/29/12129/suppl/DC1 ‘Aristolochic Acid and the Etiology of Endemic (Balkan) Nephropathy’, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 104: 12129 –12134 <doi:10.1073/pnas.0701248104>
- ^ De Broe ME. Chinese herbs nephropathy and Balkan endemic nephropathy: toward a single entity, aristolochic acid nephropathy. Kidney Int. 2012 Mar;81(6):513-5. doi: 10.1038/ki.2011.428.
- ^ Vanherweghem JL, Depierreux M, Tielemans C, Abramowicz D, Dratwa M, Jadoul M, Richard C, Vandervelde D, Verbeelen D, Vanhaelen-Fastre R, et al. Rapidly progressive interstitial renal fibrosis in young women: association with slimming regimen including Chinese herbs. Lancet. 1993 Feb 13;341(8842):387-91.
Gallery
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Habitus -
Habitus
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Flowers
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