Licorice: a sweet alternative to prevent hyperkalemia in dialysis patients?
Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 19789539.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/ki.2009.282.
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Abstract
In patients on hemodialysis, Farese et al. report that inhibition of the enzyme 11beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 2 by glycyrrhetinic acid, the active compound of licorice, reduces serum potassium concentration and the frequency of hyperkalemia, possibly by enhancing intestinal potassium loss. This finding could be an important tool to maintain predialysis [K(+)] within safe limits in some dialysis patients at risk of hyperkalemic arrhythmias.
Medical subject headings
- 11-beta-Hydroxysteroid Dehydrogenase Type 2
- Enzyme Inhibitors
- Food, Fortified
- Glycyrrhetinic Acid
- Glycyrrhiza
- Hyperkalemia
- Kidney Failure, Chronic
- Renal Dialysis