Lantana camara 馬纓丹

POISONOUS PARTS

Leaves and immature fruits.⁴

TOXICITY

• Toxic Constituents

  Pentacyclic triterpenoids such as lantadene A and lantadene B.^5,6

• Mechanism

  Lantadene A and B may be hepatoxic and cause intrahepatic cholestasis.⁵

• Poisoning Features

  Vomiting, diarrhoea, abdominal pain, respiratory depression and liver impairment.^5,7

• Poisoning Events

  Reports of human toxicity are rare. A case of suspected L. camara fatal poisoning due to ingestion of the green berries has been reported in Hong Kong. The poisoning features, however, resembled those of anticholinergic toxidrome rather than L. camara poisoning. Other poisoning cases presented mainly with gastrointestinal symptoms, and in severe cases, weakness and respiratory depression were reported.^7,8

CLINICAL MANAGEMENT

Supportive treatment.

IDENTIFICATION FEATURES

Erect shrubs, 1–2 m or taller. Stems and branches tetragonal, with stout recurved prickles, pubescent. Petioles 1–2 cm long, pubescent; leaf blades papery, wrinkled, 3–8.5 × 1.5–5 cm, margin crenate. Capitula terminal, 1.5–2.5 cm in diameter; flowers in the same inflorescence in different colour. Drupes about 4 mm in diameter, purplish black when ripe.⁹

MEDICINAL USES

Uses in TCM—flowers: clear heat, stanch bleeding; leaves: disperse swelling and remove toxin, dispel wind and relieve itching; roots: clear heat and purge fire, remove toxin and dissipate binds. Recommended dose: flowers 5–10 g, leaves 15–30 g, roots 15–30 g.^2,10

CASES IN TRL

In 2015, an elderly man developed deranged liver function after taking herbal broth prepared from “unpleasant odour weed” (photo A) picked from the countryside on and off for one month. The plant was later identified as L. camara. His liver function improved after stopping the herbal intake.

LABORATORY ANALYSIS

Lantadenes can be detected by HPLC-DAD.¹¹