[Herbal remedies and nephrotoxicity]

Numerous substances from vegetal origin used as herbal remedies can be nephrotoxic. This article summarizes several circumstances of development of acute or chronic renal failure in which the responsible agent has been identified after a thorough toxicologic study. The Chinese herbs nephropathy is extensively described, detailing not only the epidemiological and histological aspects but also the extrarenal and neoplastic complications recently reported.