Inventory of poisonings and toxicological studies carried out on Atractylis gummifera L.: A review

Atractylis gummifera L. belongs to the family Asteraceae is widely used in traditional Moroccan medicine for its therapeutic effects (diuretic, purgative, emetic, abortive), but it causes serious and fatal poisonings, hence the objective of this work is to describe the current state of intoxication caused by A. gummifera in the Mediterranean and to summarize the toxicological studies carried out on this plant. The working methodology we adopted consisted in collecting data published in Arabic, French and English in specialized articles, books and on websites. Research results showed that the Centre Anti Poison and Pharmacovigilance of Morocco declared A. gummifera was in second place in the occurrence of poisonings in between January 1980 and December 2008. The synthesis of experimental work on plant toxicology showed that the lethal dose of A. gummifera varies according to the animal model used (rat or mouse), the route of administration (intraperitoneal, oral or intravenous) and the part of the plant used. The root has been found to be the most toxic part of the plant. The toxicity of A. gummifera is due to atractyloside and gummiferine, which are inhibitors of oxidative phosphorylation that prevent the formation of ATP from ADP in intracellular organelles. This study shows the interest in raising public awareness of the toxicity of A. gummifera and in rationalizing its use in traditional medicine.