Research Article Response of Bone Resorption Markers to Aristolochia longa Intake by Algerian Breast Cancer Postmenopausal Women Bachir Benarba, 1,2 Boumedienne Meddah, 2 and Aicha Tir Touil 1 1 Laboratory of Bioconversion, Microbial engineering and Health Safety, Department of Biology, University of Mascara, 29000 Mascara, Algeria 2 Laboratory of Research on Biological Systems and Geomatics, University of Mascara, 29000 Mascara, Algeria Correspondence should be addressed to Bachir Benarba; bachirsb@yahoo.fr Received 27 January 2014; Accepted 10 April 2014; Published 30 April 2014 Academic Editor: T´ er` ese Di Paolo-Chˆ enevert Copyright © 2014 Bachir Benarba et al. Tis is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Aristolochia longa is widely used in traditional medicine in Algeria to treat breast cancer. Te aim of the present study was to investigate the response of bone resorption markers to A. longa intake by Algerian breast cancer postmenopausal women. According to the A. longa intake, breast cancer patients were grouped into A. longa group (Al) ( = 54) and non-A. longa group (non-Al) ( = 24). 32 women constituted the control group. Bone resorption markers (from urine) pyridinoline (PYD) and deoxypyridinoline (DPD) were determined by HPLC. Serum and urinary creatinine, uric acid, and urea were measured. 1 g of A. longa intake resulted in signifcant rise of renal serum markers and a pronounced increase of bone resorption markers. Te intake of A. longa roots is detrimental for kidney function and resulted in high bone resorption, maybe due to the reduction in renal function caused by the aristolochic acids contained in the roots. 1. Introduction Te pyridinium cross-links pyridinoline (PYD) and deoxypyridinoline (DPD) are established markers of bone resorption measured in blood and urine and are used to investigate bone metabolism and manage bone diseases [1]. Deoxypyridinoline (Dpd) distributed mostly in bone collagen has a higher specifcity for bone than pyridinoline (pyd), which is excreted in urine, and it is not afected by diet, whereas pyridinoline (Pyd) is abundant in bone and cartilage (Figure 1)[2]. Tey are inexpensive, sensitive, and useful for the diagnosis of bone metastasis [3]. Aristolochia longa belongs to the genus Aristolochia (Aristolochiaceae) consisting of about 500 species mostly distributed along tropical, subtropical, and Mediterranean regions of the world [4]. Te plant is widely used in traditional medicine in Algeria [5]. Although plants of the genus Aris- tolochia have been shown to exhibit interesting anticancer activities including cytotoxic and apoptosis-induced, herbal remedies containing plants of Aristolochia genus are banned in many countries because of the nephrotoxicity of their aristolochic acid [6, 7]. Te aim of the present study was to investigate the response of bone resorption markers to A. longa intake by Algerian breast cancer postmenopausal women. 2. Materials and Methods 2.1. Subjects. A total of 110 postmenopausal women were recruited into the study from two hospitals in the State of Mascara (north-west of Algeria). Of these, 32 women (age: 66.4 ± 10.45 years) free from any critical illness or medical problems, constituted the control group and 78 were newly diagnosed with primary breast cancer. Patients with recurrent breast cancer, adjuvant therapy (radiotherapy or chemother- apy) prior to surgery, or a history of previous cancer, renal failure, osteoporosis, connective tissue disease, degenerative bone disease traumatic fracture, early menopause before 40 years of age, and current medication use that may afect Hindawi Publishing Corporation Advances in Pharmacological Sciences Volume 2014, Article ID 820589, 4 pages http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2014/820589