Wormwood (Artemisia absinthium L.)-A curious plant with both neurotoxic and neuroprotective properties?

Journal of Ethnopharmacology

Volumn 131, Issue 1, 2010, Pages 224-227

  Lachenmeier, Dirk W ^a  

^a Chemisches und Veterinäruntersuchungsamt ^*  (Germany)

Author keywords

Absinthe; Artemisia absinthium L.; Neuroprotectants; Neurotoxicity syndromes; Seizures; Thujone; Wormwood

Indexed keywords

4 AMINOBUTYRIC ACID A RECEPTOR; ABSINTHOL; ARTEMISIA ABSINTHIUM EXTRACT; ESSENTIAL OIL;

ABSINTHE; ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGE; ALCOHOLISM; CROHN DISEASE; HUMAN; LETTER; NEUROPROTECTION; NEUROTOXICITY; NONHUMAN; STROKE; TONIC CLONIC SEIZURE;

ABSINTHE; ANIMALS; ARTEMISIA ABSINTHIUM; HISTORY, 16TH CENTURY; HISTORY, 18TH CENTURY; HISTORY, 20TH CENTURY; HISTORY, 21ST CENTURY; HISTORY, ANCIENT; HUMANS; NEUROPROTECTIVE AGENTS; NEUROTOXINS; PLANT EXTRACTS;

ANIMALIA; ARTEMISIA; ARTEMISIA ABSINTHIUM; RATTUS;

EID: 77955320069     PISSN: 03788741     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1016/j.jep.2010.05.062     Document Type: Letter

References (47)

1. Anon The Papyrus Ebers: The Greatest Egyptian Medical Document (E. Ebell, Trans.) 1937, Levin & Munksgaard, Copenhagen.
2. Baker P. The Book of Absinthe: A Cultural History 2001, Grove Press, New York, USA.
3. Bora K.S., Sharma A. Neuroprotective effect of Artemisia absinthium L. on focal ischemia and reperfusion-induced cerebral injury. Journal of Ethnopharmacology 2010, 129:403-409.
4. Boyce R. A contribution to the study of descending degenerations in the brain and spinal cord, and of the seat of origin and paths of conduction of the fits in absinthe epilepsy. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London 1895, 186:321-382.
5. Cunningham R.H. The restoration of coordinated, volitional movement after nerve " crossing" American Journal of Physiology 1898, 1:239-254.
6. Dettling A., Grass H., Schuff A., Skopp G., Strohbeck-Kuehner P., Haffner H.T. Absinthe: attention performance and mood under the influence of thujone. Journal of Studies on Alcohol 2004, 65:573-581.
7. Dowbiggin I. Back to the future: Valentin Magnan, French psychiatry, and the classification of mental diseases, 1885-1925. Social History of Medicine 1996, 9:383-408.
8. Eadie M.J. Absinthe, epileptic seizures and Valentin Magnan. The Journal of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh 2009, 39:73-78.
9. EMEA Community Herbal Monograph on Artemisia absinthium L. Herba 2009, European Medicines Agency, London, UK.
10. Fehr J.M. Hiera picra, vel de absinthio analecta, ad normam & formam academiae naturae curiosorum selecta 1667, Jacob Trescher, Leipzig, Germany.
11. Gilani A.H., Janbaz K.H. Preventive and curative effects of Artemisia absinthium on acetaminophen and CCl4-induced hepatotoxicity. General Pharmacology 1995, 26:309-315.
12. Höld K.M., Sirisoma N.S., Ikeda T., Narahashi T., Casida J.E. α-Thujone (the active component of absinthe): γ-aminobutyric acid type A receptor modulation and metabolic detoxification. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 2000, 97:3826-3831.
13. Keith H.M. The effect of various factors on experimentally produced convulsions. American Journal of Diseases of Children 1931, 41:532-543.
14. Krebs S., Omer T.N., Omer B. Wormwood (Artemisia absinthium) suppresses tumour necrosis factor alpha and accelerates healing in patients with Crohn's disease-a controlled clinical trial. Phytomedicine 2010, 17:305-309.
15. Lachenmeier D.W., Nathan-Maister D. Systematic misinformation about thujone in pre-ban absinthe. Deutsche Lebensmittel-Rundschau 2007, 103:255-262.
16. Lachenmeier D.W., Nathan-Maister D., Breaux T.A., Luauté J.-P., Emmert J. Absinthe, absinthism and thujone. New insight into the spirit's impact on public health. Open Addiction Journal 2010, 3:32-38.
17. Lachenmeier D.W., Walch S.G., Padosch S.A., Kröner L.U. Absinthe-a review. Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition 2006, 46:365-377.
18. Lachenmeier D.W., Nathan-Maister D., Breaux T.A., Sohnius E.M., Schoeberl K., Kuballa T. Chemical composition of vintage preban absinthe with special reference to thujone, fenchone, pinocamphone, methanol, copper, and antimony concentrations. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry 2008, 56:3073-3081.
19. Lanier D. Absinthe-The Cocaine of the Nineteenth Century: A History of the Hallucinogenic Drug and its Effect on Artists and Writers in Europe and the United States 1995, McFarland, Jefferson, NC, USA.
20. Lesieur C. Nouvelles Recherches sur la toxicité expérimentale des essences usuelles. Archives de Médecine Expérimentale et d'Anatomie Pathologique 1907, 18:803-817.
21. Luauté J.P. L'absinthisme: la faute du docteur Magnan (Absinthism: the fault of doctor Magnan). L'Evolution Psychiatrique 2007, 72:515-530.
22. Magnan V. Accidents déterminés par l'abus de la liqueur d'absinthe. L'Union Médicale 1864, 92&94. 227-232-257-262.
23. Magnan V. On the comparative action of alcohol and absinthe. The Lancet 1874, 104:410-412.
24. Margaria, R., 1963. Acute and Sub-Acute Toxicity Study on Thujone. Istituto di Fisiologia, Università di Milano. Cited from SCF (2003). Unpublished report.
25. Millet Y., Jouglard J., Steinmetz M.D., Tognetti P., Joanny P., Arditti J. Toxicity of some essential plant oils. Clinical and experimental study. Clinical Toxicology 1981, 18:1485-1498.
26. Millet Y., Tognetti P., Lavaire-Perlovisi M., Steinmetz M.D., Arditti J., Jouglard J. Experimental study of the toxic convulsant properties of commercial preparations of essences of sage and hyssop. Revue d'électroencephalographie et de neurophysiologie clinique 1979, 9:12-18.
27. Muto T., Watanabe T., Okamura M., Moto M., Kashida Y., Mitsumori K. Thirteen-week repeated dose toxicity study of wormwood (Artemisia absinthium) extract in rats. The Journal of Toxicological Sciences 2003, 28:471-478.
28. Nathan-Maister D. The Absinthe Encyclopedia 2008, Oxygéneé Press, Burgess Hill, UK.
29. NTP, 2009. TR-570-Alpha/Beta Thujone Mixture: Pathology Tables, Survival and Growth Curves from NTP Long-Term Studies. The National Toxicology Program, Research Triangle Park, NC, USA.
30. Omer B., Krebs S., Omer H., Noor T.O. Steroid-sparing effect of wormwood (Artemisia absinthium) in Crohn's disease: a double-blind placebo-controlled study. Phytomedicine 2007, 14:87-95.
31. Ossipow W.P. Über die Dosierung der Absinthessenz (essence d'absinthe cultivée) beim Hervorrufen von Anfällen experimenteller Epilepsie bei Hunden. Monatsschrift für Psychiatrie und Neurologie 1914, 85:516-525.
32. Ott I. The seat of absinthic epilepsy. The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease 1892, 19:696-698.
33. Padosch S.A., Lachenmeier D.W., Kröner L.U. Absinthism: a fictitious 19th century syndrome with present impact. Substance Abuse Treatment, Prevention, and Policy 2006, 1:14.
34. Pinto-Scognamiglio W. Connaissances actuelles sur l'activite pharmacodynamique de la thuyone, aromatisant naturel d'un emploi etendu (Current knowledge on the pharmacodynamic activity of the prolonged administration of thujone, a natural flavoring agent]. Bollettino Chimico Farmaceutico 1967, 106:292-300.
35. Pliny the Elder A. Absinthium or wormwood. The Natural History 1855, XXVII:216-220. Taylor and Francis, London, UK, (Chapter 28).
36. Robinson B. The toxic effects of wormwood. The Lancet 1889, 133:770.
37. Sampson W.L., Fernandez L. Experimental convulsions in the rat. Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics 1939, 65:275-280.
38. SCF, 2003. Opinion of the scientific committee on food (SCF) on thujone. <> (accessed 08.02.10). http://ec.europa.eu/food/fs/sc/scf/out162_en.pdf.
39. Smith W. A case of poisoning by oil of wormwood (Artemisia absinthium). The Lancet 1862, 80:619.
40. Smith W. Case of poisoning by oil of wormwood (Artemisia absinthium). Medico-Chirurgical Transactions 1863, 46:23-24.
41. Steinmetz M., Tognetti P., Mourogue M., Jouglard J., Miller Y. Sur la toxicité de certaines huiles essentielles du commerce: essence d'hysope et essence de sauge. Plantes Medicinales et Phytotherapie 1980, 14:34-45.
42. Strang J., Arnold W.N., Peters T. Absinthe: what's your poison?. British Medical Journal 1999, 319:1590-1592.
43. Surber, W., 1962. Etude de toxicité sous-chronique de la thujone sur rats. Rapport Final. Institute Battelle, Genève, Switzerland. Cited from SCF (2003).
44. Tegtmeier M., Harnischfeger G. Methods for the reduction of thujone content in pharmaceutical preparations of Artemisia, Salvia and Thuja. European Journal of Pharmaceutics and Biopharmaceutics 1994, 40:337-340.
45. The Times The conquest of Absinthe-French National Curse Suppressed 1915, The Times, Issue 40819 April 03, p. 7.
46. Weisbord S.D., Soule J.B., Kimmel P.L. Poison on line-acute renal failure caused by oil of wormwood purchased through the Internet. The New England Journal of Medicine 1997, 337:825-827.
47. Wenzel D.G., Ross C.R. Central stimulating properties of some terpenones. Journal of the American Pharmaceutical Association 1957, 46:77-82.