Health Effects
The most widely reported side-effects of glycyrrhizin use are hypertension and edema (water retention). These effects are related to the inhibition of cortisol metabolism within the kidney, and the subsequent stimulation of the mineralocorticoid receptors. Thus, consumption of black licorice can mimic disorders of excess aldosterone.
Glycyrrhizin and other licorice root products have been used for numerous medical purposes, in particular, treatment of peptic ulcers and as an expectorant. The triterpene derivative of hydrolyzed glycyrrhizin glycyrrhetinic acid is itself effective in treatment of peptic ulcer. According to MedlinePlus and the Natural Medicines Comprehensive Database, licorice is "possibly effective" for dyspepsia in combination with other herbs, but there is "insufficient evidence" to rate its effectiveness for other conditions. Regarding stomach ulcers, specifically, there is "some evidence...that specially prepared licorice will speed the healing of stomach ulcers".
An un-blinded study of 82 patients from the early 1980s, published in the British Medical Journal, reported that Caved-S had a therapeutic effect is similar to that of cimetidine in the treatment of gastric ulcers.
Although licorice may produce anti-inflammatory effects, it is uncertain as to whether that is due to glycyrrhizin, glycyrrhetinic acid, or some other licorice derivative.
Researchers have recently demonstrated doses of licorice root extract, delivering the constituent glycyrrhizin in amounts similar to that contained in standard medical doses of the root, rapidly and significantly lowered levels of circulating testosterone in males.
Glycyrrhizin inhibits liver cell injury caused by many chemicals and is used in the treatment of chronic hepatitis and cirrhosis in Japan. It also inhibits the growth of several DNA and RNA viruses, inactivating herpes simplex virus particles irreversibly, and disrupting H5N1 influenza and H5N1-induced pro-inflammatory gene expression.
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