Botanical species · safety record

Symphytum officinale

The EFSA Compendium of Botanicals holds 17 constituent measurements, 3 adverse-effect records and 3 genotoxicity assays for Symphytum officinale. This page reports what those source records contain and how to reach them. It carries no effect estimate, no dose and no recommendation.

Accepted name in source: Symphytum officinale L.

17Constituent measurements

6Safety records

7Cited sources

125Licensed products (Canada)

Regulatory presence

Health Canada's Licensed Natural Health Products Database holds 125 licensed products naming Symphytum officinale as a medicinal ingredient, matched on the exact Latin binomial. A licence records that a product met the regulator's requirements for sale in Canada. It is not evidence that the product works.

Extract types on licence

Dry
Fresh

Source material stated

Fresh root(s)
Fresh subterranean parts collected before the beginning of flowering
Leaf
Leaf/Leaves
Rhizome(s)
Root
Root extract
Seed(s)

What the records describe

Constituents measured

Plant parts

Preparations

Effect types

Target tissues

Recorded constituents

What analytical work has found in this species, at which plant part and preparation. A measured constituent is a fact about material, not about effect.

Substance	Plant part	Preparation	Concentration	Analytical method	Source
7-acetylintermedine	Roots and other underground parts	—	—	Mass Spectroscopy and hyphenated methods without chromatography	Resolve DOI
7-acetyllycopsamine	Roots and other underground parts	—	—	Mass Spectroscopy and hyphenated methods without chromatography	Resolve DOI
Intermedine	Roots and other underground parts	Solvent extraction	—	High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC)/Liquid Chromatography (LC)	Resolve DOI
Intermedine	Roots and other underground parts	—	—	Mass Spectroscopy and hyphenated methods without chromatography	Resolve DOI
Lycopsamine	Roots and other underground parts	Solvent extraction	—	High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC)/Liquid Chromatography (LC)	Resolve DOI
Lycopsamine	Roots and other underground parts	—	—	Mass Spectroscopy and hyphenated methods without chromatography	Resolve DOI
Symphytine	Roots and other underground parts	—	—	Mass Spectroscopy and hyphenated methods without chromatography	Resolve DOI
Triterpene saponins	Roots and other underground parts	Solvent extraction	—	Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR)	Resolve DOI
7-acetyllycopsamine	Roots and other underground parts	Solvent extraction	—	High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC)/Liquid Chromatography (LC)	No resolvable identifier
Echimidine	Roots and other underground parts	Solvent extraction	—	High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC)/Liquid Chromatography (LC)	No resolvable identifier
Lycopsamine	Roots and other underground parts	Solvent extraction	—	High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC)/Liquid Chromatography (LC)	No resolvable identifier
Pyrrolizidine alkaloids	Roots and other underground parts	Solvent extraction	≥ 1.38 Microgram/gram	Gaschromatography (GC)	No resolvable identifier
Pyrrolizidine alkaloids	Leaves	Solvent extraction	≤ 55 Microgram/gram	Gaschromatography (GC)	No resolvable identifier
Pyrrolizidine alkaloids	Leaves	Solvent extraction	≥ 15 Microgram/gram	Gaschromatography (GC)	No resolvable identifier
Pyrrolizidine alkaloids	Roots and other underground parts	Solvent extraction	≤ 8.32 Microgram/gram	Gaschromatography (GC)	No resolvable identifier
Symlandine	Roots and other underground parts	Solvent extraction	—	High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC)/Liquid Chromatography (LC)	No resolvable identifier
Symphytine	Roots and other underground parts	Solvent extraction	—	High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC)/Liquid Chromatography (LC)	No resolvable identifier

Recorded adverse effects

Adverse effects reported in the source literature, most often in animal or laboratory models at a stated preparation and dose.

Effect	Target tissue	Plant part	Preparation	Test organism	Test type	Source
Hepatotoxicity	Liver	Unspecified	Drying (dehydration)	Rat (as animal)	Short-term toxicity	Resolve DOI
Hepatotoxicity	Liver	Roots and other underground parts	Solvent extraction	Gallus gallus (chicken) (as animal)	Short-term toxicity	Resolve DOI
Hepatotoxicity	Liver	Unspecified	Drying (dehydration)	Human (as organism)	Case report	No resolvable identifier

Genotoxicity testing

Outcomes of genotoxicity assays as recorded in the source. A negative assay is a result under those test conditions, not a clearance.

Outcome	Endpoint	Test	Tested organism	Metabolic activation	Source
Positive	gene mutation	transgenic BigBlue® rat cell assay for detection of gene mutation in vitro	Rat (as animal)	Not applicable	Resolve DOI
Positive	gene mutation	transgenic BigBlue® rat cell assay for detection of gene mutation in vitro	Rat (as animal)	Not applicable	No resolvable identifier
Positive	gene mutation	single cell gel/comet assay in mammalian cells for detection of DNA damage	Other	With	No resolvable identifier

Cited sources

The literature the compendium cites for this species. Metatron Health has no relationship with these authors or journals and earns nothing from citing them.

Brown, Ammon W., Stegelmeier, Bryan L., Colegate, Steven M., Gardner, Dale R., Panter, Kip E., Knoppel, Edward L., Hall, Jeffery O. The comparative toxicity of a reduced, crude comfrey (Symphytum officinale) alkaloid extract and the pure, comfrey-derived pyrrolizidine alkaloids, lycopsamine and intermedine in chicks (Gallus gallus domesticus) . Journal of applied toxicology, 2016, vol. 36, no. 5, p. 716-725. DOI
Couet, Carole E., Crews, Colin., Hanley, A. Bryan. Analysis, separation, and bioassay of pyrrolizidine alkaloids from comfrey (Symphytum officinale) . Natural toxins, 1996, vol. 4, no. 4, p. 163-167.
Stickel, F., Seitz, H K. The efficacy and safety of comfrey.. Public health nutrition, 2000, vol. 3, no. 4A, p. 501-8.
GARRETT, BJ., CHEEKE, PR., MIRANDA, CL., GOEGER, DE., BUHLER, DR. CONSUMPTION OF POISONOUS PLANTS (SENECIO-JACOBAEA, SYMPHYTUM-OFFICINALE, PTERIDIUM-AQUILINUM, HYPERICUM-PERFORATUM) BY RATS - CHRONIC TOXICITY, MINERAL METABOLISM, AND HEPATIC DRUG-METABOLIZING-ENZYMES . Toxicology letters, 1982, vol. 10, no. 2-3, p. 183-188. DOI
Mei, N., Guo, L., Fu, PP., Heflich, RH., Chen, T. Mutagenicity of comfrey (Symphytum Officinale) in rat liver. British journal of cancer, 2005, vol. 92, no. 5, p. 873-875. DOI
Mei, Xunbai., Chen, Tao. The mutant frequencies and types of mutations induced by comfrey in the lungs of transgenic big blue rats . Journal of food and drug analysis, 2007, vol. 15, no. 4, p. 458-465.
AHMAD, VU., NOORWALA, M., MOHAMMAD, FV., SENER, B., GILANI, AUH., AFTAB, K. SYMPHYTOXIDE-A, A TRITERPENOID SAPONIN FROM THE ROOTS OF SYMPHYTUM-OFFICINALE . Phytochemistry, 1993, vol. 32, no. 4, p. 1003-1006. DOI

Boundary

A constituent measurement is a fact about material at a stated preparation, not a statement about what that material does in a person. An adverse-effect or genotoxicity record is an observation reported in a source, most often in an animal or laboratory model. Neither is a Metatron Health conclusion about causality, human risk or benefit, and the absence of a record is not proof that a preparation is safe. Nothing here is diagnosis, prescribing or individual medical care.

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Independent literature