title: Gastrointestinal toxicity due to bitter bottle gourd (Lagenaria siceraria)--a report of 15 cases.
abstract: Traditional medicine is widely practiced in tropical countries. Bottle gourd (Lagenaria siceraria) fruit juice is advocated as a part of complementary and alternative medicine. If the bottle gourd juice becomes bitter it is considered toxic. We report 15 patients, who developed toxicity due to drinking bitter bottle gourd juice. Patients presented with abdominal pain, vomiting, hematemesis, diarrhea and hypotension within 15 min to 6-h after ingestion of bottle gourd juice. Endoscopy showed esophagitis, gastric erosions, ulcers and duodenitis. Hypotension was treated with crystalloids and inotropic support. All patients recovered in 1-4 days. Endoscopically the lesions healed in 2 weeks. Bitter bottle gourd can cause gastrointestinal toxicity with hematemesis and hypotension. Supportive management is the treatment and all patients recover within 1 week.
authors: Department of Gastroenterology, Medanta, the Medicity, Gurgaon, India. purirajesh69@gmail.com
authors: Rajesh
authors: R
authors: Puri
authors: Randhir
authors: R
authors: Sud
authors: Abdul
authors: A
authors: Khaliq
authors: Mandhir
authors: M
authors: Kumar
authors: Sanjay
authors: S
authors: Jain
mesh_terms: D015746:Abdominal Pain / Q000209:etiology; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000077324:Crystalloid Solutions; D019662:Cucurbitaceae / Q000737:chemistry*; D005260:Female; D005767:Gastrointestinal Diseases / Q000139:chemically induced* / Q000628:therapy; D006471:Gastrointestinal Hemorrhage / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000628:therapy; D006396:Hematemesis / Q000139:chemically induced* / Q000628:therapy; D006801:Humans; D007022:Hypotension / Q000139:chemically induced; D007552:Isotonic Solutions / Q000008:administration & dosage; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000009:adverse effects*; D054328:Proton Pump Inhibitors / Q000008:administration & dosage; D014839:Vomiting / Q000209:etiology
chemical_list: D000077324:Crystalloid Solutions; D007552:Isotonic Solutions; D010936:Plant Extracts; D054328:Proton Pump Inhibitors