Graviola and Parkinsons
August
28, 2005
Subject: New study links the herb Graviola to Parkinson-like disease
I had a bad day at the office today. For the first time I can remember
I had someone walk out on me during an office visit.
I had expressed my dismay about using Graviola as a primary treatment
for breast cancer.
You may recall an article by Ralph Moss on Graviola sent out a few months
ago.
http://www.denvernaturopathic.com/news/graviola.html
I generally have little concern about people using unproven therapies.
What I did have a problem with was the patient's husband adamant claim
that his wife's choice was well validated by scientific research.
I expressed my opinion of the research rather abruptly in less than tactful
words, and that was the end of the appointment.
Having a free morning on my hands I took a few minutes to see if I could
find the volumes of research on Graviola that I had spoken so ill of.
What I found was disturbing.
Recall from Moss's article that a PubMed search on Graviola provides scanty
research listings, today I found only a single study characterizing the
aromas of various plants using a gas chromatograph. On the other
hand, Google generates 76,200 hits on the single word Graviola. A great
many people want to sell you Graviola. Raintree.com, the top hit on the
list gives quite a bit of interesting information, including the plants
scientific name, Annona muricata. Plugging this term into PubMed
generated more studies, five hits on the terms, Graviola and cancer.
Keep in mind that in comparison a PubMed search today on the terms green
tea and cancer produces 753 listings or, pulling a random term out of
the air, onions and cancer produces 75 listings; finding five hits on
graviola and cancer did not impress me greatly.
It seems the active chemicals from Graviola being studied are called annonaceous
acetogenins and a PubMed search using this tongue twister produced more
information. Linking annonaceous acetogenins and cancer on PubMed
yields 28 hits. This is starting to look interesting.
PubMed lists these studies in reverse chronological order so the first
study I looked at was very recent and unfortunately disturbing. The study,
published in Movement Disorders, on August 2, 2005, quantified the amounts
of annonaceous acetogenins found in commercial food products, mostly fruit
juices, sold in Guadeloupe. These chemicals interfere with mitochondrial
chemical pathways and may be why Graviola has an inhibitory effect on
cancer cells.
These chemical may also be why there is a higher than expected incidence
of Parkinson-like disease in Guadeloupe. In January, 2004 the Journal
of Neurochemistry published an article that examined a theory that consumption
of juices and teas made from Annona muricata was causing a higher then
expected number of Parkinson-like symptoms in the area. When given
to rats these chemicals cause lesions in the brain that look similar to
those caused by Parkinson Disease.
While Graviola may have a long history of use as both food and medicine,
it possibly causes brain damage resulting in Parkinson-like symptoms.
This month's study suggests that the amount found in beverages can accumulate
over a year's time and reach the concentrations proven to cause brain
damage in rats.
While few people in the United States consume appreciable amounts
of Graviola as food, many people respond to website promotions and consume
large amounts of concentrated Graviola as medicine. In the past
I've considered this herb in the "we don't know if it helps but it probably
won't hurt" category; these studies suggest that we now consider it potentially
toxic. If we follow Hippocrates primary injunction to 'first do no harm',
Gaviola is off the list of possible treatments until proven otherwise.
I have also been practicing tactful phrases, repeating them like mantras:
"It is interesting you think that, let's look at the research."
"When I last checked, the research was actually rather scanty, weak, minimal,
etc."
"Some websites may exaggerate what the research actually said."
I may be too old to learn tact, but I at least I can try.
References:
Mov Disord. 2005 Aug 2; [Epub ahead of print]
Quantification of acetogenins in Annona muricata linked to atypical parkinsonism
in guadeloupe.
Champy P, Melot A, Guerineau Eng V, Gleye C, Fall D, Hoglinger GU, Ruberg
M, Lannuzel A, Laprevote O, Laurens A, Hocquemiller R.
Laboratory of Pharmacognosy, UMR 8076 Centre National de la Recherche
Scientifique (CNRS) BioCIS, Faculte de Pharmacie Paris XI, Chatenay-Malabry,
France.
Atypical parkinsonism in Guadeloupe has been associated with the consumption
of fruit and infusions or decoctions prepared from leaves of Annona muricata
L. (Annonaceae), which contains annonaceous acetogenins, lipophilic inhibitors
of complex I of the mitochondrial respiratory chain. We have determined
the concentrations of annonacin, the major acetogenin in A. muricata,
in extracts of fruit and leaves by matrix-assisted laser desorption-ionization
mass spectrometry. An average fruit is estimated to contain about 15 mg
of annonacin, a can of commercial nectar 36 mg, and a cup of infusion
or decoction 140 mug. As an indication of its potential toxicity, an adult
who consumes one fruit or can of nectar a day is estimated to ingest over
1 year the amount of annonacin that induced brain lesions in rats receiving
purified annonacin by intravenous infusion. (c) 2005 Movement Disorder
Society.
PMID: 16078200 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
J Neurochem. 2004 Jan;88(1):63-9.
Annonacin, a lipophilic inhibitor of mitochondrial complex I, induces
nigral and striatal neurodegeneration in rats: possible relevance for
atypical parkinsonism in Guadeloupe.
Champy P, Hoglinger GU, Feger J, Gleye C, Hocquemiller R, Laurens A, Guerineau
V, Laprevote O, Medja F, Lombes A, Michel PP, Lannuzel A, Hirsch EC, Ruberg
M.
Experimental Neurology and Therapeutics, INSERM U289, Hopital de la Salpetriere,
Paris, France.
In Guadeloupe, epidemiological data have linked atypical parkinsonism
with fruit and herbal teas from plants of the Annonaceae family, particularly
Annona muricata. These plants contain a class of powerful, lipophilic
complex I inhibitors, the annonaceous acetogenins. To determine the neurotoxic
potential of these substances, we administered annonacin, the major acetogenin
of A. muricata, to rats intravenously with Azlet osmotic minipumps (3.8
and 7.6 mg per kg per day for 28 days). Annonacin inhibited complex I
in brain homogenates in a concentration-dependent manner, and, when administered
systemically, entered the brain parenchyma, where it was detected by matrix-associated
laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry, and decreased
brain ATP levels by 44%. In the absence of evident systemic toxicity,
we observed neuropathological abnormalities in the basal ganglia and brainstem
nuclei. Stereological cell counts showed significant loss of dopaminergic
neuro
nes in
the substantia nigra (-31.7%), and cholinergic (-37.9%) and dopamine and
cyclic AMP-regulated phosphoprotein (DARPP-32)-immunoreactive GABAergic
neurones (-39.3%) in the striatum, accompanied by a significant increase
in the number of astrocytes (35.4%) and microglial cells (73.4%). The
distribution of the lesions was similar to that in patients with atypical
parkinsonism. These data are compatible with the theory that annonaceous
acetogenins, such as annonacin, might be implicated in the aetiology of
Guadeloupean parkinsonism and support the hypothesis that some forms of
parkinsonism might be induced by environmental toxins.
PMID: 14675150 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
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