The
March 2013 National Toxicology Program’s (NTP) technical report on toxicology
and carcinogenesis studies of Ginkgo
biloba extract (GBE) in animals1 elicited a number of widely varying
responses from news, nonprofit, and herb and dietary supplement industry
organizations. Media reports seized upon the authors’ findings of cancer
produced in rats and mice after two years of being force-fed high doses of one specific
GBE;2 the consumer health and food safety organization Center for
Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) in its Chemical Cuisine guide to food
additives downgraded the classification of ginkgo from “safe” to “avoid”3;
the American Botanical Council (ABC),4 the American Herbal Products
Association (AHPA),5 and the Natural Products Association (NPA)6
each produced press releases criticizing the studies’ relevance to humans; and
consumers were left with more confusion than clarity.
Toxicology
studies, such as the recent NTP report, undoubtedly play a useful role in
determining the potentially harmful nature of substances from chemicals to food
additives to, less frequently, herbal extracts. The latest report from the NTP
is the first such report to address the potential hazard of the specific GBE
used in the studies. In fact, according to NTP’s records of such studies, which
date back to 1976, only a handful of herbal or herb-derived chemicals or
extracts has even been analyzed by the program.7
The
nonprofit ABC, plus herb and dietary supplement industry organizations such as
AHPA and NPA, cited numerous limitations, potential flaws, and other issues
with the NTP studies and report, many of which fall into three areas of primary
concern: (1) the application of toxicology and carcinogenicity studies in
rodent models has questionable and debated relevance to actual human use; (2) the
extract used in the studies does not appear to conform to the GBEs available in
the US marketplace or those listed in internationally recognized pharmacopoeias or other compendia; and (3) such GBEs that have been the subject of
numerous preclinical studies and dozens of human clinical trials have a reasonably
long history of safe use and known benefits.4-6
The NTP Ginkgo Studies
In
hazard-identification toxicology studies, scientists feed animals — in this
case, laboratory mice and rats — higher-than-normal dosages of the ingredient in
question in order to determine if a material should be evaluated for potential
toxicity to humans. According to an April 29th New York Times article about the recent NTP report, “It is a valid
criticism, as doses used in toxicology studies tend to be very high. In the new
gingko study, mice were given up to 2,000 milligrams of extract per kilogram of
body weight, or just over 900 milligrams per pound of body weight, five times a
week.” “Dosages sold for human consumption,” the Times author noted, “range from 30 to 120 milligrams, regardless of
body size.”2
ABC,
in its public response to NTP on the draft ginkgo report submitted in February
2012, noted that the doses given to the rodents were 55-108 times higher than the
normal human levels of consumption of standardized GBE.4,8
The
NTP makes this point in its “Explanation of Levels of Evidence of Carcinogenic
Activity” in the report, in which it states, “Positive results demonstrate that
a chemical is carcinogenic for laboratory animals under the conditions of the
study.” It continues, “Thus, the actual
determination of risk to humans from chemicals found to be carcinogenic in
laboratories requires a wider analysis that extends beyond the purview of these
studies”1 [emphasis added].
The
four main conclusions drawn by the NTP study authors from the two-year gavage
studies include the following:
(1) [T]here was some evidence of carcinogenic activity
of Ginkgo biloba extract in male
F344/N rats based on increased incidences of thyroid gland follicular cell
adenoma;
(2) There was some evidence of carcinogenic activity
of Ginkgo biloba extract in female F344/N
rats based on increased incidences of thyroid gland follicular cell neoplasms;
(3) There was clear evidence of carcinogenic activity
of Ginkgo biloba extract in male
B6C3F1/N mice based on increased incidences of hepatocellular carcinoma and
hepatoblastoma; and
(4) There was clear evidence of carcinogenic activity
of Ginkgo biloba extract in female
B6C3F1/N mice based on increased incidences of hepatocellular adenoma,
hepatocellular carcinoma, and hepatoblastoma.1
Ginkgo
biloba Extract Used in
NTP Studies
In
its early 2012 comments submitted to NTP regarding a draft copy of the report (which was
released in late 2011 for public comment),8 ABC voiced concern over the
specific GBE used in the studies: Shanghai Chinese Ginkgo Biloba Extract
(SC-GBE), procured by the Shanghai Xing Ling Science and Technology
Pharmaceutical Company, Ltd.
SC-GBE
has a different chemical profile from what is commonly considered the gold
standard of GBEs — Willmar Schwabe Pharmaceutical Co.’s EGb 761®
(Karlsruhe, Germany), which is manufactured in a way that is consistent with
numerous “official and authoritative monographs and compendia” including the
American Herbal Pharmacopoeia (2003), German Commission E Monograph (1994), the
United States Pharmacopeia (2011), and the data from the World Health
Organization.8
Specifically,
SC-GBE was stated in the report to have 31.2% flavonol glycosides, 15.4%
terpene lactones, and 10.45 +/- 2.40 ppm ginkgolic acids, a potentially
allergenic compound. EGb 761 is standardized to 22-27% ginkgo flavonol
glycosides, 5.4-6.6% terpene lactones, and less than 5 ppm of ginkgolic acids.8
In
an email response to HerbalEGram, lead NTP study scientist Dr. Cynthia Rider
explained the committee’s decision to use SC-GBE. “When we were unable to
procure bulk EGb761 (our originally intended test article) from Schwabe, the
previous study scientist for Ginkgo
biloba extract (GBE), contacted colleagues in industry to ask for reputable
sources of bulk GBE,” she said (email, April 29, 2013). “He received
information from an industry contact that recommended Shanghai Xing Ling as a
source of bulk GBE that was sold in the US and Europe.”
Despite
the use of SC-GBE instead of the intended EGb 761, the report’s authors
classified the extract as “comparable to the Schwabe extract.” Dr. Rider noted,
“One thing that I have not seen in the media is a discussion of the variability
in the concentrations of constituents in GBE products available in the
marketplace. There are no enforced standards for constituents in dietary
supplements and there have been several studies that have compared constituents
of GBE products in the US and Europe that have found varying levels of marker
components and a lack of conformation to label claims (Fransen et al. 2010; Kressmann et al. 2002; Sloley et al. 2003).”
However,
AHPA Chief Science Officer Steven Dentali, PhD, in a chart showing percentages
of flavonol glycosides and terpene lactones in various GBEs on the market from
NTP references, demonstrated that the SC-GBE used in the NTP studies (identified
as “NTP 578” on the graph) falls well outside the range of the typical
concentrations of these two GBE constituent classes.5
Further,
in its analysis submitted in early 2012, during the public comment period for
the original draft report, AHPA was unable to find evidence that SC-GBE is sold
anywhere in the US marketplace.9 An additional point of
consideration regarding the nonconformity of SC-GBE to other well-known GBEs
was the use of corn oil as the vehicle of administration in the NTP rat and
mice studies.
“NTP has long-used corn oil as a vehicle,” said Bill Gurley, PhD, a
professor of pharmaceutical sciences at the University of Arkansas for Medical
Sciences College of Pharmacy and a co-author of ABC’s 2012 comments to NTP
regarding its draft report (email, April 29, 2013). “Several studies have
shown that prolonged administration of corn oil can produce some unexpected toxicities.
The problem is that botanical extracts are not consumed in conjunction with
corn oil by humans on a chronic basis. This alone makes the study results
applicable only to this group of [animals]. In general, corn oil can improve
the oral bioavailability of many phytochemicals and thus may increase the
toxicity and/or carcinogenicity of certain phytochemicals (e.g., ginkgolic acids).”
Dr.
Rider responded by noting that the NTP studies used a group of control animals
that were fed corn oil alone. The use of a control measure is one way to ensure
that the ingredient in question is the cause of any cancers or toxicities, not
the vehicle itself.
“Water,
methylcellulose, and corn oil were explored as potential ‘vehicles’ for GBE,”
Dr. Rider wrote in an email to HerbalEGram. “The best suspension was achieved
with corn oil, which is the reason it was selected as the vehicle. In all NTP
studies the effects of a given test article are always compared versus animals
exposed to the ‘vehicle’ (in this case corn oil) alone. The concurrent vehicle
control group for the GBE studies, as well as the ‘corn oil gavage’ historical
control database (past studies of where corn oil was used as the vehicle),
provides a basis for observing the effects of GBE treatment.”
However,
some experts like Dr. Gurley, remain unconvinced. “If the Shanghai [GBE] contained higher levels of ‘actives’ and ‘toxic’
agents, then you would expect it to be more problematic, especially when
administered with corn oil, which will dramatically improve the bioavailability
of most of these phytochemicals,” he said. “In my opinion, the Shanghai extract
is an anomaly that is not reflective of most of the ginkgo extracts consumed in
Europe or the US.”
A History of Safe
Use and Demonstrated Benefits
Despite
multiple concerns about the specific extract used in the NTP studies, various
experts and industry organizations have expressed concern that the widely
circulating reports of potential “Ginkgo
biloba” toxicity and carcinogenicity will deter individuals from consuming
supplements that have shown very few serious adverse effects and have demonstrated
benefits in clinical trials conducted on other GBEs, such as EGb 761.
“Such health benefits
are relevant in both clinical medicine as well as in self-care, as documented
by numerous published clinical trials,” ABC’s Founder and Executive Director
Mark Blumenthal, and other co-authors, wrote in ABC’s early 2012 public comments on
the NTP draft report.8 “We are deeply concerned that any final
report from NTP based on the toxicology of the Shanghai Chinese GBE used in the
NTP studies — which we have adequately shown is not consistent with the
proprietary ginkgo extract that has been employed in most of the published
pharmacological and clinical trials, and which is not consistent with the
specifications established and officially recognized in numerous government
monographs on ginkgo — will have an erroneous, undeserved, and unwarranted
adverse effect on professional and public perceptions of the relative safety of
the appropriately manufactured ginkgo extract.”
Interestingly,
NTP noted a number of historic uses of various parts of the ancient Ginkgo biloba tree in its final report
introduction.1 “Seeds from the ginkgo tree have been used
medicinally dating back thousands of years. In Chinese medicine, Ginkgo biloba seeds have been used to
treat pulmonary issues, alcohol abuse, and bladder infections, while ginkgo
leaves came into use later to treat skin infections, as well as heart and lung
disease (Mahady, 2002; Smith and Luo, 2004),” the authors wrote. “Current use
of Ginkgo biloba extract centers on
leaf-based preparations for the promotion of circulation and brain function,
and the treatment of tinnitus.”
In
2009, Reiner
Kaschel, PhD, clinical neuropsychologist at the University of Osnabrueck in
Germany, undertook a literature review of 29 published clinical trials to
assess the effects of GBE — most of which were EGb 761 — on various aspects of mental performance.10
According to Schwabe’s website, “[Twenty nine] studies with a total of 2,414
participants being either healthy old adults or patients showing first signs of
cognitive decline provided the database for the review. In total, 209
Ginkgo-placebo comparisons were analyzed with the result that in all cognitive
functional areas examined, Ginkgo extract showed significant positive effects
compared to placebo.” Beneficial effects “could thus be proven in areas
including but not limited to short- and long-term memory, concentration,
attention and executive functions with a probability 4-8-fold higher than
expected purely by chance.”11
Dr.
Kaschel concluded, “There
is consistent evidence that chronic administration (of Ginkgo extract) improves
selective attention, some executive processes, and long-term memory for verbal
and non-verbal material.”11
The
professional and public perception of the efficacy of ginkgo has been
confounded by the results of two large-scale, long-term clinical trials of GBE in
recent years, which failed to find such robust results in the area of prevention of dementia and related
cognitive function, including Alzheimer’s disease (AD). The Ginkgo Evaluation
of Memory (GEM) Study — co-funded
by five branches of the US National Institutes of Health (NIH), including the
National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM); the
National Institute on Aging; the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute; the
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, and the Office of
Dietary Supplements —
“failed to find an effect of Ginkgo
biloba on prevention of dementia (DeKosky et al., 2008), prevention of cognitive decline (Snitz et al., 2009), reduction in
cardiovascular disease-related events or mortality (Kuller et al., 2010), or decreases in blood pressure or hypertension
(Brinkley et al., 2010),” according
to the NTP report.1 EGb 761, however, is marketed in some countries
where it has been approved for the
treatment of AD symptoms, rather than the prevention of AD.
More
recently, results of the GuidAge clinical trial on EGb 761,12 conducted
in France and published in 2012 by
Vellas et al. found that the extract did
not reduce elderly participants’ risk of developing AD, despite the fact that
EGb 761 is marketed for the treatment
of symptoms. A more detailed analysis of the trial, including criticisms of the
study, was published in HerbalGram
97.13
Further,
the GuidAge trial reported that there was indication of a reduction in the risk
for dementia in those who continued treatment for at least four years.12 This ties in with findings from the PAQUID Study, which suggested
slower cognitive decline during the course of 20 years in those who took EGb
761 compared to those who did not.14
Additional randomized placebo-controlled trials
published recently confirmed the beneficial effects of EGb 761 on memory in
healthy people15 and those with mild cognitive impairment,16
as well as in the symptomatic treatment of dementia.17,18
Despite
the mixed results of clinical trials, adverse effects of GBE from such studies
were found to be minor and infrequent. According to Medline Plus, a service of
the US National Library of Medicine, ginkgo leaf extract is considered “likely safe when
taken by mouth for most people. It can cause some minor side effects such as
stomach upset, headache, dizziness, constipation, forceful heartbeat, and
allergic skin reactions.”19
Authors of the GuidAge trial wrote, “Incidence of
adverse events was much the same in both groups [experimental {i.e., EGb 761} and control], with no
significant difference in the incidence of serious adverse events, including
death, hemorrhagic events, stroke (ischaemic or haemorrhagic), or cardiac
disorders…. Long-term administration of standardised Ginkgo biloba extract at 240 mg daily did not affect vital signs,
physical function, or neurological function.”12
Similarly, as the NCCAM press release on the GEM
study stated, “In
analyzing safety data, the GEM study did not find significant adverse effects
from ginkgo, in particular there was no evidence for increased bleeding risk in
persons taking ginkgo.”20
Conclusions
According
to dietary supplement safety and poison control expert Rick Kingston, PharmD —
clinical professor at the College of Pharmacy at the University of Minnesota, president
of Regulatory and Scientific Affairs at SafetyCall International in Minneapolis,
a member of the ABC Advisory Board, and a co-author of the ABC comments to NTP
— “It is worth considering that one of the original reasons for GBE’s being
singled out for review is the fact that it contains quercetin, a compound
previously studied within the NTP and initially found to be ‘potentially
carcinogenic,’ subsequently identified as a ‘known mutagen,’ and a substance of
concern for the NTP. Still, there are few, if any, scientists calling for a ban
on fruits, vegetables and other plant based food sources that ubiquitously
contain naturally occurring quercetin. This demonstrates that the utility of
these NTP studies are often times simply hypothesis generation — that is, looking
for possible substances that under unusual or specific circumstances of use might
contribute to, or cause adverse effects. As such they are simply the first step
in ongoing investigation" (email, May 2, 2013).
As
Gary Gutting, PhD, a professor of philosophy at the University of Notre Dame,
recently wrote in a New York Times
“Opinionater” piece, “As any regular reader of news will know, popular media
reports ‘scientific results’ nearly every day. … How seriously should we take
them?”21 Prof. Gutting discusses the ever-relevant issue of
correlation versus causality in science — the idea that, in many cases, results
simply show that a change in one variable is correlated with a change in
another, not necessarily caused by (or even related to) that change — and totes
the golden standard of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) in science, which
aim to limit the number of confounding variables in a well-designed study.
Science
reporting, Gutting writes, often doesn’t “explain the specific limited role
such studies usually play in the overall scientific process.… In fact, most
scientific results are of no immediate practical value; they merely move us one
small step closer to a final result that may be truly useful.”21
According
to Dr. Gurley at the University of Arkansas, readers should be hesitant to draw
any strong conclusions from the recent NTP report on GBE. “The overriding point to consider is that rats are not humans,” he
said. “Their metabolism … is different from humans and their response to
many carcinogens is different from that of humans. The conclusions drawn from the study are, in my
opinion, not translatable to other ginkgo extracts or to humans.”
Dr.
Rider, in her comments to HerbalEGram, noted that NTP provides information to
the government and the public about potential carcinogenicity or toxicology of
compounds suggested by various individuals or organizations — in this case, by
the National Cancer Institute — that are in need of more data.
“Our
purpose is to provide the best possible toxicity and carcinogenicity data on
agents with significant exposure potential to the public and other government
agencies,” Dr. Rider wrote. “In addition, at this time, we do not know which
specific chemical constituent(s) or combination of constituents of GBE is
responsible for the carcinogenic effects of GBE in rats and mice. Further
research is needed to determine this."
—Tyler Smith
References
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