Gurley B J, Gardner S F, White L M, Wang P L
Department of Pharmaceutics, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, College of Pharmacy, Little Rock 72205, USA.
Ther Drug Monit. 1998 Aug;20(4):439-45. doi: 10.1097/00007691-199808000-00015.
Nutritional supplements containing Ephedra sinica (ma huang), a botanical source of ephedrine alkaloids, have been linked to several episodes of ephedrine toxicity and at least 17 deaths, yet these products remain unregulated. Ten subjects were enrolled in a randomized, crossover study aimed at characterizing the pharmacokinetics of ephedrine after the ingestion of three commercially available ma huang products compared with a 25-mg ephedrine capsule. Pharmacokinetic parameters for botanical ephedrine were similar to those for synthetic ephedrine hydrochloride. Gender-based comparisons of Vss/F and CL/F revealed higher values for women than for men (Vss/F, 3.49 +/- 1.04 vs 2.98 +/- 0.73 l/kg; CL/F, 0.48 +/- 0.11 vs 0.37 +/- 0.11 l/hour x kg). The current study suggests that the increased incidence of ma huang toxicity does not stem from differences in the absorption of botanical ephedrine compared with synthetic ephedrine; rather, it results from accidental overdose often prompted by exaggerated off-label claims and a belief that "natural" medicinal agents are inherently safe.
含有麻黄碱生物碱植物来源的麻黄（麻黄）的营养补充剂，已与多起麻黄碱中毒事件以及至少17例死亡病例相关联，但这些产品仍未得到监管。十名受试者参与了一项随机交叉研究，旨在比较摄入三种市售麻黄产品后麻黄碱的药代动力学与25毫克麻黄碱胶囊的药代动力学。植物性麻黄碱的药代动力学参数与合成盐酸麻黄碱的药代动力学参数相似。基于性别的Vss/F和CL/F比较显示，女性的值高于男性（Vss/F，3.49±1.04对2.98±0.73升/千克；CL/F，0.48±0.11对0.37±0.11升/小时×千克）。当前研究表明，麻黄中毒发生率的增加并非源于植物性麻黄碱与合成麻黄碱在吸收方面的差异；相反，它是由夸大的非标签声明以及认为“天然”药物本质上安全的观念常常引发的意外过量用药导致的。
