Abstract ▼ AI-Helper

Licorice is widely used as a Chinese(herbal) medicine. The glycyrrhizin, a main ingredient of the natural licorice, has a potent mineralocorticoid effect which may cause severe hypokalemia and muscle paralysis. We present a 60-year-old woman, who had been ingesting one or two spoonful of licorice po...

Licorice is widely used as a Chinese(herbal) medicine. The glycyrrhizin, a main ingredient of the natural licorice, has a potent mineralocorticoid effect which may cause severe hypokalemia and muscle paralysis. We present a 60-year-old woman, who had been ingesting one or two spoonful of licorice powder daily for about one year, developed acute flaccid quadriparesis with high levels of serum muscle enzymes and the typical features of mineralocorticoid excess such as severe hypokalemia and metabolic alkalosis. Both plasma renin activity and serum aldosterone level were below the normal values. This case indicates that licorice-induced hypokalemic myopathy should be considered in the differential diagnosis of a patient with acute quadriparesis and hypokalemia.

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