Toxicological Effects of Glycyrrhiza glabra (Licorice): A Review
Abstract
Licorice ( Glycyrrhiza glabra ) has been considered as an herbal drug since ancient time. Nowadays, it is a well‐known spice that possesses worth pharmacological effects. However, some relevant articles have revealed negative impacts of licorice in health. By considering the great wishes in using herbal medicine, it is important to show adverse effects of herbal medicine in health. At present, there are misunderstandings toward the safety of herbal medicines. Herein, we gathered scientific research projects on the toxicity effects of licorice and glycyrrhizin to highlight their safety. In this regards, we categorized our findings about the toxicity effects of licorice and glycyrrhizin in acute, sub‐acute, sub‐chronic, and chronic states. Besides, we discussed on the cytotoxicity, genotoxicity, mutagenicity, and carcinogenicity of licorice and glycyrrhizin as well as their developmental toxicity. This review disclosed that G. glabra and glycyrrhizin salts are moderately toxic. They need to be used with caution during pregnancy. G. glabra and glycyrrhizin possess selective cytotoxic effects on cancerous cells. The most important side effects of licorice and glycyrrhizin are hypertension and hypokalemic‐induced secondary disorders. Licorice side effects are increased by hypokalemia, prolonged gastrointestinal transient time, decreased type 2 11‐beta‐hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase activities, hypertension, anorexia nervosa, old age, and female sex. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
The toxicity of licorice and glycyrrhizin was mainly evaluated after oral administration and intraperitoneal, subcutaneous, intravenous, and intramuscular injection.
“However, their toxicity was mainly evaluated after oral administration and intraperitoneal, subcutaneous, intravenous, and intramuscular injection [105].”
From Licorice (Glycyrrhiza glabra, G. uralensis, and G. inflata) and Their Constituents as Active Cosmeceutical Ingredients (2022) · cites this paper as [105]
Licorice and glycyrrhizin need to be used with caution during pregnancy.
“A recent review describes the toxicity effects of licorice and glycyrrhizin in acute, sub-acute, sub-chronic, and chronic states, highlighting their moderate toxicity and the need to be used with caution during pregnancy.”
From Licorice (Glycyrrhiza glabra, G. uralensis, and G. inflata) and Their Constituents as Active Cosmeceutical Ingredients (2022) · cites this paper as [105]
Licorice and glycyrrhizin have moderate toxicity in acute, sub-acute, sub-chronic, and chronic states.
“A recent review describes the toxicity effects of licorice and glycyrrhizin in acute, sub-acute, sub-chronic, and chronic states, highlighting their moderate toxicity and the need to be used with caution during pregnancy.”
From Licorice (Glycyrrhiza glabra, G. uralensis, and G. inflata) and Their Constituents as Active Cosmeceutical Ingredients (2022) · cites this paper as [105]
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Cerulli, A., Masullo, M., Montoro, P., & Piacente, S. (2022) · Cosmetics · doi:10.3390/cosmetics9010007 · Cited by 83 · see citing works
Ashkar, F., Rezaei, S., Salahshoornezhad, S., Vahid, F., Gholamalizadeh, M., Dahka, S. M., & Doaei, S. (2020) · BioMolecular Concepts · doi:10.1515/bmc-2020-0005 · Cited by 68 · see citing works
- Authors
- Nazari, S., Rameshrad, M., & Hosseinzadeh, H.
- Affiliations
- Mashhad University of Medical Sciences (IR)
- Corresponding author
- Hosseinzadeh, Hossein
- Venue
- Phytotherapy Research
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2017-08-18
- Volume
- 31
- Issue
- 11
- Pages
- 1635-1650
- ISSN
- 0951-418X (ISSN-L)
- 1099-1573
- OpenAlex
- W2745599901
- Cited by
- 266
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 16 · 2025: 40 · 2024: 48 · 2023: 27 · 2022: 35 · 2021: 42 · 2020: 29 · 2019: 21 · 2018: 8
- FWCI
- 2.76
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Phytotherapy Research (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics › Pharmacology › Pharmacological Effects of Natural Compounds
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Plant Science › Phytochemistry Medicinal Plant Applications
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Plant Toxicity and Pharmacological Properties
- Keywords
- licorice, glycyrrhizin, herbal medicine toxicity, adverse effects, cytotoxicity, genotoxicity, mutagenicity, carcinogenicity, developmental toxicity, hypertension, hypokalemia, 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase, pregnancy safety, anorexia nervosa
- MeSH terms
- Animals, Enzyme Inhibitors, Glycyrrhiza, Humans, Hypertension, Phytotherapy, Mutagenicity Tests, Plant Extracts, Plants, Medicinal, Toxicity Tests, Glycyrrhizic Acid, Herb-Drug Interactions, 11-beta-Hydroxysteroid Dehydrogenases, Cell Line, Tumor
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
