The liver supports many vital functions, but its strategic location also makes it prone to disease. A study found that flavocoxid, a natural supplement used to treat arthritis, likely caused moderate to mild liver injury in four patients, based on symptoms like jaundice and elevated liver enzymes that resolved after stopping the supplement. The frequency of liver injuries from flavocoxid is unknown as supplements do not require pre-market approval in the US, but this study shows it can cause clinically significant liver problems that improve after ceasing use.

2.  The liver supports almost every organ in the
vertebrates and some other animals, is vital for
survival. Because of its strategic location and
multidimensional functions, the liver is also
prone to many diseases.
 Flavocoxid, a natural solution used to cure
arthritis, may have been responsible for serious
liver injury in four patients doing research of
drug-induced liver injury, according to the
discoveries of US research.
 Flavocoxids are categorized as a ‘medical food’
in the US and can only be obtained on
prescription. Manufacturers of healthcare
foods do not have to seek approval for their
products with the US Food

3. Symptoms and signs of liver injury:
 Jaundice
 Pruritus
 Stomach pain
 Marked elevations in
alanine aminotransferase

4. Symptoms appeared within 1-3 months of starting flavocoxids and
caused moderate liver injury in three patients and mild injury in
one. “Each patient’s liver injury began to resolve within a few days
after stopping flavocoxid”, written by the authors.

5. Conclusion :
Liver biochemistry values decreased to the normal range
within 3 to 12 weeks after flavocoxid was stopped, and all
patients recovered without suffering from acute liver
failure. Causality was adjudicated as highly likely in 3
patients and as possible in 1 patient. The frequency and
mechanism of liver injury could not be assessed.
Flavocoxid can cause clinically significant liver injury,
which seems to resolve within weeks after cessation.