Broom Herb – Dosage and Useful Properties
15 February 2008ALTERNATIVE NAMES: BANNAL, BROOMTOPS, GENISTA, GINSTERKRAUT, HOGWEED, IRISH TOPS, SAROTHAMNI HERB, SCOTCH BROOM, SCOTCH BROOM TOP
Taxonomic Class
Fabaceae
Common Trade Names
None known.
Common Forms
Available as cigarettes, extracts, root, and teas
Source
The crude drug is prepared from the twigs and flowers of Cytisus scoparius (Sarothamnus scoparius). Broom has been naturalized from Europe to the United States and Canada. This plant should not be confused with Spanish broom (Spartium junceum), used in trace amounts in foods and cosmetics.
Chemical Components
Broom tops (flowers) contain the alkaloid sparteine. The concentration of this alkaloid ranges from 0.01% to 0.22% in floral parts and up to 1.5% in twigs. Broom also contains the flavone glycosides genitoside, isoquercetin, lupanine, oxysparteine, scoparoside, and spiraeoside. Caffeic acid derivatives, essential oils (containing phenyl ethyl alcohol, phenols, and acids), isoflavones (sarothamnoside), kaempferol, and quercetin derivatives have also been reported. Broom seeds contain phytohemagglutinins, or lectins.
Actions
The metabolism of sparteine has been repeatedly documented in humans. Studies with rodents show that sparteine inhibits sodium and potassium transport across the cell membrane. This action in cardiac cells mimics the actions of type IA antiarrhythmics, such as quinidine and procainamide. Sparteine produces a negative chronotropic effect and, possibly, a negative inotropic effect .
Sparteine undergoes oxidative metabolism by way of the cytochrome P-450 system in the liver. Cardiac drugs that share the same CYP2D6 pathway have demonstrated the ability to inhibit sparteine metabolism . All drugs known to share this metabolic pathway have the potential to interfere with the metabolism of sparteine. Sparteine is also a known oxytocic.
Another component of broom, scoparoside, possesses diuretic properties.
Reported Uses
Medical folklore and homeopathy have endowed broom with antiarrhythmic, cathartic, diuretic, and emetic properties at high doses. Smoking broom cigarettes is reported to produce euphoria and relaxation. Some researchers argue that these effects are unlikely to occur because of the small quantity of alkaloids taken into the body through smoking of the plant.
lectins isolated from broom seeds have been used as pharmacologic markers . They have also been used to classify red cell polyagglutinability. Sparteine, like debrisoquin, is used to characterize metabolizers of the oxidative metabolic pathway CYP2D6 in the liver .
Dosage
No consensus exists.
Adverse Reactions
CNS: headache, mind-altering sensations (from smoking plant parts).
CV: arrhythmias, worsening of heart failure.
Respiratory: fungal pneumonia (increased risk when contaminated broom tops are smoked as cigarettes).
Other: spontaneous abortion (from effects of sparteine), uterine contractions.
Interactions
Antihypertensives: May alter effectiveness of some antihypertensives. Avoid administration with broom.
Beta blockers, other cardiac drugs, tricyclic antidepressants, and other drugs that undergo metabolism by way of CYP2DG: May enhance the effects of these drugs; increases risk of serious arrhythmias, such as ventricular fibrillation, ventricular tachycardia, bradycardia, and heart block. Avoid administration with broom.
Cardiac pacemakers: May interfere with proper function of pacemaker.
Avoid use of broom in patients with pacemakers.
Contraindications And Precautions
Broom is contraindicated in pregnant patients because it is known to cause spontaneous abortion. It is also contraindicated in patients with hypertension or significantly impaired cardiac function because of the potential for arrhythmias and the agent’s ability to increase the tone of the vascular system.
Special Considerations
Alert Poisoning from overdose is possible. At toxic concentrations, broom may cause a clinical picture similar to that of nicotine poisoning: diarrhea, mental status changes, nausea, shock, tachycardia, and vertigo.
Caution the patient to avoid ingesting or smoking broom preparations because of potentially dangerous effects on the vascular system.
Inform the patient that broom is a dangerous herb and lacks approval for any therapeutic use.
Advise the patient not to confuse this plant with Spanish broom (S .junceum).
Caution women to avoid using broom during pregnancy.
Points of Interest
Before the use of hops, broom was used to enhance the taste and intoxicating power of beer .
The FDA considers this plant unsafe for human consumption. The German Commission E, which oversees drug use in Germany, considers broom effective for certain cardiac disorders.
Commentary
Although broom contains interesting and potentially useful therapeutic
agents, the risks appear to outweigh any purported benefits. Besides, safer and more effective drugs are available for all the potential therapeutic applications for broom. Additional data are needed to determine more completely the risks and benefits of the pharmacologic alkaloids contained in this plant.
Tagged under:broom tops, cardiac drugs, crude drug, diuretic properties, Herbal Medicines, medical folklore, metabolic pathway, negative inotropic effect scotch broom
