Evodia rutaecarpa is the dried unripe fruit of a small citrus-family tree, used for about two thousand years in Chinese and Japanese practice for headache with vomiting and cold-type stomach pain, and later sold as a fat-burning supplement. The biology is real and the clinical case is unmade: animal effects have never been shown in people, while liver injury and a potent effect on a drug-clearing liver enzyme are reproducible. (Full Review)
| Marker | Target | Why |
|---|---|---|
| ALT | < 25 U/L (men), < 20 U/L (women) | Earliest and most sensitive signal of liver-cell injury |
| AST | < 25 U/L | Confirms liver injury and flags muscle sources |
| ALP and total bilirubin | ALP 40–90 U/L; bilirubin 0.3–1.0 mg/dL | Detects the bile-flow pattern of drug-induced liver injury |
| GGT | < 20 U/L (men), < 15 U/L (women) | Sensitive marker of liver stress and enzyme induction |
| eGFR and creatinine | eGFR > 90 mL/min/1.73 m²; creatinine mid-reference | Tracks the kidney-injury mechanism seen in mice |
| Blood pressure (seated and standing) | < 120/80 mmHg seated, drop < 10 mmHg on standing | Captures the vessel-relaxing peptide effect and dizziness risk |
| Complete blood count with platelets | Platelets 200–300 ×10⁹/L; haemoglobin mid-reference | Baseline for the antiplatelet and bleeding signal |
| Relevant drug level (e.g. theophylline) | No established target — track the individual's own pre-evodia level | Detects silent loss of medication efficacy from enzyme induction |
Cadence: Baseline, 4 weeks, 12 weeks, then every 6 months while use continues, with an extra liver panel two weeks after any dose increase and a repeat drug level two weeks after stopping