Nutritional supplements containing Ephedra sinica (ma-huang), a botanical source of ephedrine-type alkaloids, have been linked to numerous episodes of ephedrine (EPH) toxicity. With passage of the 1994 Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act, nutritional supplements are no longer subject to the same FDA preapproval requirements as food additives, prescription, or nonprescription medications...

Purpose of assessment The Federal Office of Consumer Protection and Food Safety (BVL), in collaboration with the ALS working party on dietary foods, nutrition and classification issues, has compiled a hit list of 10 substances, the consumption of which may pose a health risk. These plants, which include Ephedra species (Ephedra L.) and preparations made from them, contain substances with a stro...

BACKGROUND We describe a rare case of severe rhabdomyolysis provoked by ingestion of a performance-enhancer herbal supplement containing ephedra. CASE REPORT A healthy 21-year-old Army soldier complained of "complete muscle failure" after collapsing at the end of Army Physical Fitness Test. The patient was found to be tachycardic and hypotensive, but his vital signs quickly stabilized after r...

Ephedra species were erect, branching shrubs found in desert or arid regions worldwide as the source of ephedrine alkaloids. In this study, complete chloroplast genome przewalskii and E. monosperma on Qinghai-Tibet Plateau sequenced, assembled, annotated. Compared with other four published species, genomes highly conservative, a quadripartite structure. The length was 109,569 bp 36.6% GC 109,60...

Ephedra sinica polysaccharides have been reported to possess important activities, so quality evaluation of polysaccharides from the genus Ephedra is urgent. In this study, enzymatic digestions were performed to establish multiple saccharide fingerprints by ultra-performance liquid chromatography with electrospray ionization triple quadrupole linear ion trap mass spectrometry (UPLC-ESI-TQ-MS/MS...

The use of weight loss dietary supplements is prevalent in the United States, and over the past decade, there has been tremendous growth of the use of these products. It is well documented that ephedra-based products are associated with various cardiovascular adverse effects. With new restrictions placed on such products, companies are now manufacturing caffeine-based ephedra-free herbal supple...

Three new species of Dactuliothrips Moulton are described, two from Mendoza, Argentina and one from Southern California, USA: D. prosopis sp.n. from Prosopis alpataco (Fabaceae), D. monttea sp.n. from Monttea aphylla (Scrophulariaceae), and D. ephedra sp.n. from Ephedra sp. (Ephedraceae). A revised diagnosis and an illustrated identification key to the nine recognized species of Dactuliothrips ...

Cigarette smokers have an increased risk for coronary artery disease. Nicotine present in cigarettes can adversely affect the cardiovascular system via stimulation of both sympathetic and parasympathetic neurons. Caffeine, another cardiovascular and central nervous system (CNS) stimulant, is commonly found in Ephedra and Ephedra-free dietary supplements. These caffeine-containing supplements al...

Chemokine receptors CCR3 and CCR4 are preferentially expressed by TH2 cells, mast cells, and/or eosinophils, all of which are involved in the pathogenesis of allergic diseases. Therefore, CCR3 and CCR4 have long been highlighted as potent therapeutic targets for allergic diseases. Japanese traditional herbal medicine Kampo consists of multiple crude drugs/herbs, which further consist of numerou...

Background and objectives: The genus Ephedra (Ephedraceae) consists of about 40 species of mostly shrubs and rarely small trees around the world. In the present study, the essential oil (EO) diversity and genetic relationships were investigated in six Ephedra species from Iran using Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA (RAPD) markers. Methods: The plants were collected from two different provinces;...