Lantana camara poisoning

 

Substance: Lantana camara, News:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNrUYoL3N-E

 

Common Name: Common Lantana, 馬纓丹、五色梅、紅黃花、臭草[1]

 

Involving System      

- Gastrointestinal (GI): Acute cases develop hemorrhagic diarrhea. Chronic poisoning results in constipation. [2]

- Hepatic (Liver): Lantana contains lantadene-type toxins (such as lantadene A and B), which can cause hepatocellular injury and may lead to cholestasis [3]. Animal cases: In livestock such as cattle and horses, poisoning commonly results in liver damage and photosensitivity reactions [4]; such effects are rare in humans.

- Renal (less common) [5]

 

Presentation      

Nausea (0.3%), vomiting (4.7%), diarrhea (0.94%), abdominal pain (1.2%) [6]

Abnormal liver function (jaundice, elevated AST/ALT) [7]

Drowsiness (0.5%), weakness [6]

Rare: renal failure, arrhythmias, photosensitivity reactions (more common in animals) [5], [7]

 

Antidote / Treatment     

- （No specific antidote）

-  （Supportive care）activated charcoal [8].

- Intravenous fluids, IVF、correct electrolyte imbalance. [8]

- Liver injury： Hospitalize and monitor the liver enzymes and function.

 

Disposition 

- mild： treatment and observation, discharged when improvement was achieved.

- severe: persisted liver enzymes elevated, or uneasy symptoms:  0.3% hospitalized [6], especially the children and elderly.

 

References 

[1]. https://www.agriharvest.tw/archives/16922

[2]. https://poisonousplants.cvmbs.colostate.edu/plant/64

[3]. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/431982/

[4]. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12583691/

[5]. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16031191/

[6]. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21041281/

[7]. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37054993/

[8]. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/6512165/

 

Edited by Yu-Jang Su  March 17, 2025