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Review

Eugenol (Clove Oil)

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In: LiverTox: Clinical and Research Information on Drug-Induced Liver Injury [Internet]. Bethesda (MD): National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases; 2012.
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Review

Eugenol (Clove Oil)

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Excerpt

Eugenol, also called clove oil, is an aromatic oil extracted from cloves that is used widely as a flavoring for foods and teas and as an herbal oil used topically to treat toothache and more rarely to be taken orally to treat gastrointestinal and respiratory complaints. Eugenol in therapeutic doses has not been implicated in causing serum enzyme elevations or clinically apparent liver injury, but ingestions of high doses, as with an overdose, can cause severe liver injury.

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References

    1. Zimmerman HJ. Unconventional drugs. Miscellaneous drugs and diagnostic chemicals. In, Zimmerman HJ. Hepatotoxicity: the adverse effects of drugs and other chemicals on the liver. 2nd ed. Philadelphia: Lippincott, 1999, pp. 731-4.(Expert review of hepatotoxicity published in 1999; several herbals are discussed, including comfrey, germander, chaparral leaf, skullcap and valerian, but not eugenol or clove oil).
    1. Seeff L, Stickel F, Navarro VJ. Hepatotoxicity of herbals and dietary supplements. In, Kaplowitz N, DeLeve LD, eds. Drug-induced liver disease. 3rd ed. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 2013, pp. 631-58.(Review of hepatotoxicity of herbal and dietary supplements [HDS]; clove oil is not discussed).
    1. Clove. In, PDR for Herbal Medicines. 4th ed. Montvale, New Jersey: Thomson Healthcare Inc., 2007: pp. 201-4.(Compilation of short monographs on herbal medications and dietary supplements).
    1. Barkin ME, Boyd JP, Cohen S. Acute allergic reaction to eugenol. Oral Surg Oral Med Oral Pathol. 1984;57:441–2. [ (Case report of allergic reaction to a temporary zinc oxide-eugenol dental restoration that required corticosteroid therapy and recurred after exposure to a similar dental sealer). ] - PubMed
    1. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Illnesses possibly associated with smoking clove cigarettes. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 1985;34:297–9. [ (Initial report of 2 cases of sudden onset of severe lung injury in previously healthy California teenagers shortly after smoking clove cigarettes, initially thought to be bacterial pneumonia but not responding to antibiotics while reversing rapidly with corticosteroid therapy). ] - PubMed

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