Clinical and Experimental Hepatology

Chelidonium majus-associated liver injury following use of an unregulated herbal preparation

Emily O. Burzynski 1
,
Dawid Porowski 2, 3
,
Agnieszka Bednarska 2, 3
,
Dominik Bursa 2, 3
,
Justyna Kowalska 3, 4

  1. Faculty of Medicine, English Division, Medical University of Warsaw, Poland

  2. Department of Adults’ Infectious Diseases, Medical University of Warsaw, Poland

  3. Hospital for Infectious Diseases in Warsaw, Poland

  4. Infectious Diseases Observational Research Unit, Medical University of Warsaw, Poland

Clin Exp HEPATOL 2026; 12, 4:

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5114/ceh.2026.166165
Data publikacji online: 2026/11/03
Article file
Chelidonium Burzynski 00817.pdf
  1. Stickel F, Patsenker E, Schuppan D. Herbal hepatotoxicity. J Hepatol 2005; 43: 901-910.
  2. Ekor M. The growing use of herbal medicines: issues relating to adverse reactions and challenges in monitoring safety. Front Pharmacol 2014; 4: 177.
  3. Ma ZT, Shi Z, Xiao XH, et al. New insights into herb-induced liver injury. Antioxid Redox Signal 2023; 38: 1138-1149.
  4. Bunchorntavakul C, Reddy KR. Herbal and dietary supplement hepatotoxicity. Aliment Pharmacol Ther 2013; 37: 3-17.
  5. Teschke R, Glass X, Schulze J. Herbal hepatotoxicity by greater celandine (Chelidonium majus): causality assessment of 22 spontaneous reports. Regul Toxicol Pharmacol 2011; 61: 282-291.
  6. Benninger J, Schneider HT, Schuppan D, et al. Acute hepatitis induced by greater celandine (Chelidonium majus). Gastroenterology 1999; 117: 1234-1237.
  7. Conti E, De Checchi G, Mencarelli R, et al. Lycopodium similiaplex-induced acute hepatitis: a case report. Eur J Gastroenterol Hepatol 2008; 20: 469-471.
  8. Stickel F, Pöschl G, Seitz HK, et al. Acute hepatitis induced by greater celandine (Chelidonium majus). Scand J Gastroenterol 2003; 38: 565-568.
  9. Hardeman E, Van Overbeke L, Ilegems S, et al. Acute hepatitis induced by greater celandine (Chelidonium majus). Acta Gastroenterol Belg 2008; 71: 281-282.
  10. Moro PA, Cassetti F, Giugliano G, et al. Hepatitis from greater celandine (Chelidonium majus L.): review of literature and report of a new case. J Ethnopharmacol 2009; 124: 328-332.
  11. Power S, Barritt AST. A yellow flower with jaundice power: liver injury attributed to greater celandine. ACG Case Rep J 2024; 11: e01347.
  12. Ciornolutchii V, Ismaiel A, Sabo CM, et al. A hidden cause of hypertransaminasemia: liver toxicity caused by Chelidonium majus L.: report of two cases of herb-induced liver injury and literature review. Am J Ther 2024; 31: e382-387.
  13. Im SG, Yoo SH, Jeon DO, et al. Chelidonium majus-induced acute hepatitis. Ewha Med J 2014; 37: 60-63.
  14. Teschke R, Frenzel C, Glass X, et al. Greater celandine hepatotoxicity: a clinical review. Ann Hepatol 2012; 11: 838-848.
  15. Gilca M, Gaman L, Panait E, et al. Chelidonium majus – an integrative review: traditional knowledge versus modern findings. Forsch Komplementmed 2010; 17: 241-248.
  16. Li XL, Sun YP, Wang M, et al. Alkaloids in Chelidonium majus L: a review of its phytochemistry, pharmacology and toxicology. Front Pharmacol 2024; 15: 1440979.
  17. Pantano F, Mannocchi G, Marinelli E, et al. Hepatotoxicity induced by greater celandine (Chelidonium majus L.): a review of the literature. Eur Rev Med Pharmacol Sci 2017; 21 (1 Suppl): 46-52.
  18. Rudolf H, Ullrich A, Ludwig K, et al. Toxicity caused by Chelidonium majus in primary human, canine, monkey, and rat hepatocytes. FASEB J 2009; 23 (S1): 741.15.
  19. Stielow M, Witczynska A, Kubryn N, et al. The bioavailability of drugs – the current state of knowledge. Molecules 2023; 28: 8038.
  20. Lin JKS, Tujios SR. Hidden dangers: herbal and dietary supplement induced hepatotoxicity. Livers 2023; 3: 618-636.
  21. Frenzel C, Teschke R. Herbal hepatotoxicity: clinical characteristics and listing compilation. Int J Mol Sci 2016; 17: 588.
  22. Maji A, Banerji P. Chelidonium majus L. (Greater celandine) – A review on its phytochemical and therapeutic perspectives. Int J Herbal Med 2015; 3: 10-27.
  23. Zielińska S, Jezierska-Domaradzka A, Wójciak-Kosior M, et al. Greater celandine’s ups and downs-21 centuries of medicinal uses of Chelidonium majus from the viewpoint of today’s pharmacology. Front Pharmacol 2018; 9: 299.
  24. Kozielewicz DM, Stalke P. Drug-induced liver injury. Part II: late complications and hepatotoxicity monitoring. Clin Exp Hepatol 2025; 11: 89-96.
  25. European Medicines Agency. Assessment report on Chelidonium majus L., herba, 2011. Available from: https://www.ema.europa.eu/en/documents/herbal-report/final-assessment-report-chelidonium-majus-l-herba_en.pdf
  26. Flogaus-Faust R. Chelidonium majus (greater celandine) [photograph]. Wikimedia Commons (accessed June 28, 2026). https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Chelidonium_majus_002.JPG
Copyright: © Clinical and Experimental Hepatology. This is an Open Access journal, all articles are distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0). License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) enables reusers to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the material in any medium or format for noncommercial purposes only, and only so long as attribution is given to the creator. If you remix, adapt, or build upon the material, you must license the modified material under identical terms.
SUBMIT YOUR PAPER
Share
without publication fees
Coverage in
Integrated with
Editorial Policies
Sarajevo Declaration on Integrity and Visibility of Scholarly Publications