THE TOXICOLOGY OF AFRICAN HERBAL REMEDIES

Toxicity related to traditional medicines is becoming more widely reco gnized as these remedies become popular in developed countries. Accide ntal herbal toxicity occurs not only as a result of a lack of pharmace utic quality control in harvesting and preparation but also because he rbal remedies an believed to be harmless. Although there is a huge amo unt of data available documenting the pharmacologically active ingredi ents of many plants, it is seldom helpful to the toxicologist in an ac ute situation. Current analytic methods such as high-performance liqui d chromatography, gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, and immunoassa ys can provide identification of the toxin in those few cases in which the history or symptoms give a clear lead, but broad screening method s remain to be developed. In most cases of plant poisoning, treatment continues to be only of symptoms, with few specific antidotes availabl e, It is important that toxicologists in the West be alert to the poss ibility of encountering poisoning in patients due to traditional Afric an remedies.