Tuesday June 23, 2015 (foodconsumer.org) -- A case report in the American Journal of Case Reports suggests that people who are taking statins should avoid using cinnamon supplements as the combo was linked to the case of acute hepatitis.

The female aged 73 was diagnosed in the Emergency Department with drug induced acute hepatitis and she suffered symptoms including abdominal pain, diarrhea and vomiting after taking cinnamon supplements for about a week.   At the time, she had been taking statins for months for coronary artery disease.

Cinnamon has been reported as a supplement to improve glycolated hemoglobin and serum glucose levels in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus or insulin resistance.  Cinnamon contains a naturally occurring toxic chemical called coumarin, which can induce liver toxicity and its concomitant use with hepatotoxic drugs can lead to some acute liver condition.
 
The lab work and imaging studies confirmed the diagnosis of hepatitis but did not reveal the cause.  The patient recovered soon after she stopped taking both cinnamon supplements and statins and she no longer experienced any symptom when she resumed statin therapy, but no cinnamon supplementation.  This led doctors to believe the combination of cinnamon and statins caused the acute hepatitis.

The case report concludes that a combination of cinnamon supplements and statin can cause acute hepatitis. (David Liu)

Daniel Brancheau,B,D,E,F,G, Brijesh Patel,E,F, and Marcel ZughaibD,E,F,   Do Cinnamon Supplements Cause Acute Hepatitis?  Am J Case Rep. 2015; 16: 250–254. Published online 2015 Apr 29.