Group Debunks Research Suggesting Ginkgo Biloba Is Dangerous.

2001 OCT 4 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) --

Research that incorrectly suggests that colchicine has been detected in a ginkgo dietary supplement is flawed and erroneous, according to the American Botanical Council (ABC).

The study which started the controversy was published in the August 20, 2001, issue of the journal Chemical Research in Toxicology. The study claims that pregnant women who consume ginkgo extracts (Ginkgo biloba) may run the risk of accumulating the natural chemical colchicine in their placentas, thereby causing potential harm to the fetuses.

ABC has determined that the original research study and resulting paper is seriously flawed and that the resulting false alarms generated about ginkgo are groundless and unwarranted.

"Ginkgo does not contain colchicine and there is no credible scientific evidence that it does," said ABC founder Mark Blumenthal. "Furthermore, the levels of colchicine claimed to have been found in the placental samples would likely have been lethal, if accurately reported."

Regarding the question of the absence of colchicine in ginkgo, Blumenthal confirmed this information with Norman R. Farnsworth, PhD, distinguished research professor of pharmacognosy and senior university scholar at the College of Pharmacy at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Farnsworth was emphatic that colchicine is not a constituent of ginkgo.

At ABC's request, Farnsworth conducted a comprehensive search of the scientific literature for any research paper that might support the possibility that colchicine occurs in ginkgo. According to the NAPRALERT database at the University of Illinois (the world's largest computer database on scientific articles on herbs, their chemistry, pharmacology, toxicology, and clinical studies), no scientific evidence in the published literature supports the suggestion that colchicine is an ingredient in ginkgo.