The alarming truth is more than 14.5 million people suffer from ulcers worldwide due to factors such as stress and the use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS). This has prompted many researchers to identify anti-ulcer drugs. Anti-ulcer alternatives are preferred by ulcer patients over allopathic drugs, which can have severe side effects, and to replace the multitude of drugs blocking the multiple steps of ulceration, thus lowering the drug burden on ulcer patients.
A research article to be published on October 21 in the World Journal of Gastroenterology entitled A novel phenol-bound pectic polysaccharide from Decalepis hamiltonii with multi-step ulcer preventive activity addresses this issue. A research team at the Central Food Technological Research Institute, in Mysore, India, have demonstrated the potency of a bioactive polysaccharide from an edible root extract against multiple complications encountered during ulcers, such as: 1) gastroprotection against swim / alcohol stress induced ulcers in experimental animal models; 2) down-regulation of activated H+, K+-ATPase in the stomach tissue, which otherwise would result in increased flux of H+ in to the lumen of the stomach, leading to acidity; 3) normalization of oxidative stress and oxidative stress induced damage to the stomach tissue; 4) normalization of antioxidant enzymes which necessitate the management of oxidative stress generated during gastric ulceration and; 5) recovery of damaged mucosal epithelium, which can safeguard the stomach tissue by preventing the entry of an ulcerogenic, such as Helicobacter pylori.
The identified polysaccharide also exhibited potent antioxidant activity, including free radical scavenging, DNA protection, and inhibition of growth of Helicobacter pylori in vitro, confirming the ability of the polysaccharide in inhibiting various steps of gastric ulceration directly.
The researchers concluded that a bioactive polysaccharide from swallow root, with defined sugar composition and phenolic antioxidant, exhibited multi-potent free radical scavenging antioxidant, anti-H. pylori, inhibition of H+, K+-ATPase and gastric mucosal protective activities. Swallow root has been shown to be non-toxic, as opposed to other known anti-ulcer drugs.
Reference: Srikanta BM, Siddaraju MN, Dharmesh SM. A novel phenol-bound pectic polysaccharide from Decalepis hamiltonii with multi-step ulcer preventive activity. World J Gastroenterology 2007; 13(39): 5196-5207
Correspondence to: Dr. Shylaja M Dharmesh, Ph.D., Department of Biochemistry and Nutrition, Central Food Technological Research Institute, MYSORE-570 020, Karnataka, INDIA. email@example.com Telphone: +91-0821-2514876. Fax: +91-0821-2517233.
About World Journal of Gastroenterology:
World Journal of Gastroenterology (WJG), a leading international journal in gastroenterology and hepatology, has established a reputation for publishing first class research on esophageal cancer, gastric cancer, liver cancer, viral hepatitis, colorectal cancer, and H pylori infection, and provides a forum for both clinicians and scientists. WJG has been indexed and abstracted in Current Contents/Clinical Medicine, Science Citation Index Expanded (also known as SciSearch) and Journal Citation Reports/Science Edition, Index Medicus, MEDLINE and PubMed, Chemical Abstracts, EMBASE/Excerpta Medica, Abstracts Journals, Nature Clinical Practice Gastroenterology and Hepatology, CAB Abstracts and Global Health. ISI JCR 2003-2000 IF: 3.318, 2.532, 1.445 and 0.993. WJG is a weekly journal published by WJG Press. The publication dates are the 7th, 14th, 21st, and 28th of every month. The WJG is supported by The National Natural Science Foundation of China, No. 30224801 and No. 30424812, and was founded with the name of China National Journal of New Gastroenterology on October 1, 1995, and renamed WJG on January 25, 1998.
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The WJG Press mainly publishes World Journal of Gastroenterology