• Yutaka Nagata, Tetsuo Watanabe, Kazuhiko Nagasaka, Masaaki Yamada, Masafumi Murai, Sunao Takeuchi, Mai Murase, Toshinori Yazaki, Takayuki Murase, Kenichi Komatsu, Machiko Kaizuka, Mika Sano, Koji Asano, Chikao Ando, and Norihide Taniuchi.
• Department of Oriental Traditional Medical Center, Suwa Central Hospital, 4300 Tamagawa, Chino, Nagano, 391-8503, Japan. ynagata@suwachuo.jp.
• Bmc Complem Altern M. 2016 Jul 11; 16: 207.

BackgroundMesenteric phlebosclerosis (MP) is a disease characterized by fibrotic change or calcification of the mesenteric vein. Recently, there has been an increase in case reports of MP related to herbal medicine usage. Long-term intake of gardenia fruit (GF) is suspected as a possible cause. However, many GF users do not develop this disease and the association between GF and MP remains unclear. In this study, we investigated for the first time the dosage of GF used by patients with and without MP.MethodsWe used a medical chart review study design to assess the association between GF and MP. We reviewed patients with a history of intake of herbal medicines containing GF. Among these patients, we selected patients who were examined by colonoscopy and abdominal plain computed tomography (CT). We investigated the findings of colonoscopy, CT scan and histological examination. We assessed the total dosages of GF alongside the duration of ambulatory visit, the administration period of herbal medicine containing GF and pre-existing disease in order to compare MP cases and non-MP patients.ResultsTen MP cases and 42 non-MP patients were analyzed. We summarized clinical findings of MP cases. All MP cases used more GF than non-MP patients and were administered more than approximately 5,000 grams of GF in cumulative dosage.ConclusionsThis study indicated that excessive intake of GF contributes to and/or accelerates the development of MP suggesting that long-term usage of GF in excessive amounts increases the risk of MP.

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