Citation

Khetpal N, Mandzhieva B, Shahid S, Khetpal A, Jain AG. Cureus 2020; 12(2): e6870.

Affiliation

Internal Medicine, AdventHealth, Orlando, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2020, Curēus)

DOI

10.7759/cureus.6870

PMID

32190438

PMCID

PMC7057255

Abstract

Dietary supplements do not need prior Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval before they are sold to the public per Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994 (DSHEA). Reporting serious dietary supplement related adverse reactions is voluntary. Hydroxycut is a brand of dietary supplements that are marketed as a popular weight loss product that contains multiple herbal constituents. Due to its potential hepatotoxic effects, FDA issued a warning in 2009 and recommended that consumers discontinue use of Hydroxycut. Hydroxycut was recalled from the market but a reformulated herbal mix is now available again. We are presenting a case of acute liver injury associated with Hydroxycut. The prominent pattern of liver injury is severe hepatocellular injury with the striking elevation of the aminotransferase levels and minimal abnormalities in alkaline phosphatase levels. It can sometimes cause severe hepatocellular necrosis.

Copyright © 2020, Khetpal et al.

Language: en

Keywords

dietary supplements; drug toxicity; hydroxycut; liver failure; weight loss