Draft Community Herbal Monograph On Rheum Palmatum L. And Rheum Officinale Baillon, Radix
European Medicines Agency Evaluation of Medicines for Human Use
London, 5 July 2007 Doc. Ref. EMEA/HMPC/189624/2007
DRAFT
COMMUNITY HERBAL MONOGRAPH ON RHEUM PALMATUM L. AND RHEUM
OFFICINALE BAILLON, RADIX
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DISCUSSION IN WORKING PARTY ON COMMUNITY MONOGRAPHS AND COMMUNITY LIST (MLWP) |
May 2007 July 2007 |
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ADOPTION BY HMPC FOR RELEASE FOR CONSULTATION |
5 July 2007 |
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END OF CONSULTATION (DEADLINE FOR COMMENTS) |
15 October 2007 |
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REDISCUSSION IN WORKING PARTY ON COMMUNITY | |
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MONOGRAPHS AND COMMUNITY LIST (MLWP) | |
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ADOPTION BY HMPC |
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Herbal medicinal products; HMPC; Community herbal monographs; well-established medicinal use; Rheum palmatum L.; Rheum officinale Baillon; Rhei radix; rhubarb
COMMUNITY HERBAL MONOGRAPH ON RHEUM PALMATUM L. AND RHEUM
OFFICINALE BAILLON, RADIX
1. Name of the medicinal product
To be specified for the individual finished product.
2. Qualitative and quantitative composition1, 2
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Well-established use |
Traditional use |
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With regard to the marketing authorisation application of Article 10(a) of Directive 2001/83/EC as amended | |
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Rheum palmatum L. or Rheum officinale Baillon or their hybrids or a mixture of these two species and/or their hybrids, radix (rhubarb) | |
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i) Herbal substance whole or cut, dried underground parts, standardised | |
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ii) Herbal preparations standardised herbal preparations thereof |
3. PHARMACEUTICAL FORM
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Well-established use |
Traditional use |
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Standardised herbal substance or herbal | |
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preparation in solid or liquid dosage forms for | |
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oral use. | |
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The pharmaceutical form should be described by | |
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the European Pharmacopoeia full standard term. |
1 The material complies with the Ph. Eur. monograph (ref. 01/2005:0291).
2 The declaration of the active substance(s) for an individual finished product should be in accordance with relevant herbal quality guidance.
4.1. Therapeutic indications
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Well-established use Herbal medicinal product for short-term use in cases of occasional constipation. 4.2. Posology and method of administration |
Traditional use |
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Well-established use Posology The maximum daily dose of hydroxyanthracene glycosides is 30 mg. This is equivalent to ....(dose of the preparation). The correct individual dose is the smallest required to produce a comfortable soft-formed motion. Adolescents over 12 years of age, adults, elderly Herbal substance/preparation equivalent to 20 - 30 mg hydroxy anthracene derivatives, calculated as rhein, to be taken once daily at night. Normally it is sufficient to take this medicinal product up to two to three times a week. The pharmaceutical form must allow lower dosages. The use in children under 12 years of age is contraindicated (see section 4.3 Contraindications). Duration of use Use for more than 1 - 2 weeks requires medical supervision. If the symptoms persist during the use of the medicinal product, a doctor or a pharmacist should be consulted. See also section 4.4 Special warnings and precautions for use. Method of administration As described in the package leaflet corresponding to the pharmaceutical form. |
Traditional use |
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Well-established use |
Traditional use |
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Hypersensitivity to the active substance. | |
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Cases of intestinal obstructions and stenosis, atony, appendicitis, inflammatory colon diseases (e.g. Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis); abdominal pain of unknown origin; severe dehydration state with water and electrolyte depletion. | |
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Children under 12 years of age. | |
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4.4. Special warnings and precautions for use | |
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Well-established use |
Traditional use |
Patients taking cardiac glycosides, antiarrhythmic medicinal products, medicinal products inducing QT-prolongation, diuretics, corticosteroids or liquorice root, have to consult a doctor before taking rhubarb concomitantly.
Like all laxatives, rhubarb should not be taken by patients suffering from faecal impaction and undiagnosed, acute or persistent gastro-intestinal complaints, e.g. abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting unless advised by a doctor because these symptoms can be signs of potential or existing intestinal blockage (ileus).
If laxatives are needed every day the cause of the constipation should be investigated. Long-term use of laxatives should be avoided.
If stimulant laxatives are taken for longer than a brief period of treatment, this may lead to impaired function of the intestine and dependence on laxatives. Rhubarb preparations should only be used if a therapeutic effect cannot be achieved by a change of diet or the administration of bulk forming agents.
When rhubarb preparations are administered to incontinent adults, pads should be changed more frequently to prevent extended skin contact with faeces.
Patients with kidney disorders should be aware of possible electrolyte imbalance.
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Well-established use Hypokalaemia (resulting from long-term laxative abuse) potentiates the action of cardiac glycosides and interacts with antiarrhythmic medicinal products, with medicinal products, which induce reversion to sinus rhythm (e.g. quinidine) and with medicinal products inducing QT-prolongation. Concomitant use with other medicinal products inducing hypokalaemia (e.g. diuretics, corticosteroids and liquorice root) may enhance electrolyte imbalance. 4.6. Pregnancy and lactation |
Traditional use |
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Well-established use Pregnancy There are no reports of undesirable or damaging effects during pregnancy and on the foetus when used at the recommended dosage. However, as a consequence of experimental data concerning a genotoxic risk of several anthranoids, e.g. aloe-emodin, emodin, frangulin, chrysophanol and phy scion, use is not recommended during pregnancy. Lactation Use during breastfeeding is not recommended as there are insufficient data on the excretion of metabolites in breast milk. After administration of other anthranoids, active metabolites, such as rhein, are excreted in breast milk in small amounts. A laxative effect in breast fed babies has not been reported. |
Traditional use |
4.7. Effects on ability to drive and use machines
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Well-established use Not relevant. |
Traditional use |
Well-established use
Hypersensitivity reactions may occur.
Rhubarb may produce abdominal pain and spasm and passage of liquid stools, in particular in patients with irritable colon. The frequency is not known. However, these symptoms may also occur generally as a consequence of individual overdosage. In such cases dose reduction is necessary.
Chronic use may lead to disorders in water equilibrium and electrolyte metabolism and may result in albuminuria and haematuria.
Furthermore, chronic use may cause pigmentation of the intestinal mucosa (pseudomelanosis coli), which usually recedes when the patient stops taking the preparation.
Yellow or red-brown (pH dependent) discolouration of urine by metabolites, which is not clinically significant, may occur during the treatment.
If other adverse reactions not mentioned above occur, a doctor or a pharmacist should be consulted.
Well-established use
The major symptoms of overdose/abuse are griping pain and severe diarrhoea with consequent losses of fluid and electrolytes, which should be replaced. Diarrhoea may cause potassium depletion, in particular. Potassium depletion may lead to cardiac disorders and muscular asthenia, particularly where cardiac glycosides, diuretics, corticosteroids or liquorice root are being taken at the same time. Treatment should be supportive with generous amounts of fluid. Electrolytes, especially potassium, should be monitored. This is especially important in the elderly.
Chronic ingested overdoses of anthranoid containing medicinal products may lead to toxic hepatitis.
Traditional use
Traditional use
5.1. Pharmacodynamic properties
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Well-established use Pharmacotherapeutic group: contact laxatives ATC code: A 06 AB 1,8-dihydroxyanthracene derivatives possess a laxative effect. The P-0-linked glycosides e.g. sennosides are not absorbed in the upper gut; they are converted by bacteria of the large intestine into the active metabolites, the anthrones. There are two different mechanisms of action: 1. stimulation of the motility of the large intestine resulting in accelerated colonic transit. 2. influence on secretion processes by two concomitant mechanisms viz. inhibition of absorption of water and electrolytes (Na+,Cl-) into the colonic epithelial cells (antiabsorptive effect) and increase of the leakiness of the tight junctions and stimulation of secretion of water and electrolytes into the lumen of the colon (secretagogue effect) resulting in enhanced concentrations of fluid and electrolytes in the lumen of the colon. Defaecation takes place after a delay of 8 - 12 hours due to the time taken for transport to the colon and metabolisation into the active compound. 5.2. Pharmacokinetic properties |
Traditional use |
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Well-established use The P-0-linked glycosides are not split by human digestive enzymes and therefore not absorbed in the upper gut to a large extent. They are converted by the bacteria of the large intestine into the active metabolites. The absorbed anthraquinone aglycones are transformed into their corresponding glucuronides and sulphate derivatives. |
Traditional use |
It is not known to what extent anthrones are absorbed. However, in the case of senna, animal experiments with radio-labeled rhein-anthrone administered directly into the caecum show that only a very small proportion (less than 10%) of rhein-anthrone is absorbed.
After administration of other anthranoids, active metabolites, such as rhein, pass in small amounts into breast milk. Animal experiments demonstrated that placental-passage of rhein is low.
Well-established use
Total rhubarb (rhizomes of Rheum palmatum L.) anthraquinones (TRAs) were orally administered for 13 weeks to Sprague Dawley rats at a dose of 0, 140, 794, 4500 mg/kg bw. In the highest dose group, nephrotoxicity was discernible at 13 weeks.
In the Salmonella/microsome assay an ethanolic root extract of Rheum officinale Baillon was weakly mutagenic in strain TA 1537 with and without metabolic activation.
No further toxicological data are available for rhubarb itself or preparations thereof.
Experimental data, mainly in vitro tests showed a genotoxic risk of several anthranoids in the Salmonella microsome assay, aloe-emodin, emodin, chrysophanol and physcion were weakly mutagenic. No mutagenic effects were observed in the V79-HGPRT mutation assay and in the unscheduled DNA synthesis (UDS) assay for chrysophanol and physcion. Emodin was highly mutagenic in the V79-HGPRT mutation assay. In the UDS assay emodin was a string inducer of UDS in primary hepatocytes. Aloe-emodin showed a significant increase in net grains/nucleus. Emodin was also tested with respect to its transforming activity in C3H/M2 mouse fibroblasts in vitro. In the in vitro salmonella/microsome mutagen test and the deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) repair test of primary rat hepatocytes emodin and frangulin showed a dose-dependent increase in the mutation rate or the induction of DNA repair.
Traditional use
However, in vivo studies of other anthranoid-containing herbal substance (senna) in rat hepatocytes (chromosome aberration test, mouse spot test, in vivo/in vitro UDS (unscheduled DNA synthesis) showed no evidence of any genetic effects.
In in vivo studies (micronucleus assay in bone marrow cells of NMRI mice; chromosome aberration assay in bone marrow cells of Wistar rats; mouse spot test [DBA/2J x NMRI]) no indication of a mutagenic activity of aloe emodin was found.
Sennoside B and rhein did not induce significant numbers of chromosomal aberrations or aberrant cells in bone marrow cells of Swiss mice.
Further 2-year studies on male and female rats and mice with emodin gave no evidence of carcinogenic activity for male rats and female mice, and equivocal evidence for female rats and male mice.
Laxative use as a risk factor in colorectal cancer (CRC) was investigated in some clinical trials. Some studies revealed a risk for CRC associated with the use of anthraquinone-containing laxatives, some studies did not. However, a risk was also revealed for constipation itself and underlying dietary habits. Further investigations are needed to assess the carcinogenic risk definitely._
6. PHARMACEUTICAL PARTICULARS
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Well-established use |
Traditional use |
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Not applicable. |
7. DATE OF COMPILATION/LAST REVISION 5 July 2007
©EMEA 2007 9/9