Helicobacter pylori associated Asian enigma: Does diet deserve distinction?

Helicobacter pylori(H. pylori) is one of the most widespread infections in humans worldwide that chronically infects up to 50% of the world's population. The infection is involved in the pathogenesis of chronic active gastritis, peptic ulcer, mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue lymphoma and gastric cancer, therefore, it has been classified as class Ⅰ definite carcinogen by the World Health Organization. Despite the established etiological role of H. pylori, its actual distribution and association with related diseases is controversial and there is a large intercountry variation especially among Asian countries. H. pylori infection is more frequent in developing countries like India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh as compared to developed Asian countries like Japan, China and South Korea. However, the frequency of gastric cancer is comparatively lower in India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh with that of Japan, China and South Korea. Such phenomenon of clinical diversity, defined as enigma, is judged by genetic variability of the infecting H. pylori strains, differences in the host genetic background in various ethnic groups, and environmental factors such as dietary habits. Most of the studies have so far focused on the bacterial factor while environmental issues, including dietary components, were not given due attention as one of the factors related with H. pylori associated gastric carcinogenesis. The dietary factor has been suggested to play an important role in H. pylori related carcinogenesis, and in this respect several studies have corroborated the intake of various dietary components as modulatory factors for gastric cancer risk. In this review, such studies, from in vitro experiments to clinical trials, are being focused in detail with respect to enigma associated with H. pylori. It may be conceivably concluded from the available evidence that dietary factor can be a game changer in the scenario of Asian enigma, particularly in high risk population infected with virulent H. pylori strains, however further affirmation studies are desperately needed to achieve conclusive outcomes.

Ins and outs of Helicobacter pylori association with autoimmune rheumatic diseases

Helicobacter pylori(H.pylori) infection is widely prevalent throughout worldwide.H.pylori manage a long-term survival in hostile environment of human stomach leading to peptic ulcer diseases and gastric cancer.But mostly infected person remains asymptomatic.Its chronic interaction with immune system makes H.pylori as an attractive candidate for the researchers to study its association with autoimmune diseases.This article presents a review of the literature on the association of H.pylori infection in selective autoimmune rheumatic diseases(RD).The authors used Me SH terms "Helicobacter pylori " with "rheumatoid arthritis," "systemic lupus erythematosus," or "fibromyalgia" to search Pub Med database.All relevant studies identified were included.Despite extensive medical advancement many questions on role of H.pylori infection in autoimmune RD still remain unanswered.Further studies are therefore needed to address the role of H.pylori in pathogenesis of RD.

Evaluation of Acute and Repeated Dose Toxicity of the Polyherbal Formulation Linkus Syrup in Experimental Animals

The objective of the present study was to evaluate the pre-clinical efficacy and toxicity of polyherbal cough syrup Linkus. Method: Animals (healthy Wistar albino rats;(150 - 250 g) of either sex) were housed under standard environmental conditions;i.e. 25°C ± 1°C and 12 h dark/light cycle. Food and water were available at libitum. The rats were treated orally with the recommended doses of the test drug (Linkus). After 15 minutes, they were individually placed in a closed Plexiglas chamber (20 × 10 × 10 cm) and exposed to citric acid (0.1 g/ml) inhalation for 7 minutes. The cough reflexes were produced and counted for the last 5 minutes and compared with those of the control animals. The following studies were conducted to evaluate the toxicity of the test drug in healthy Wistar albino rats: lethal dose50 (LD50);rats of either sex (n = 10/sex) were treated orally with doses (1 or 5 g/kg) of the test drug. Mortality and behavioral changes were observed for 1 week. Repeated dose toxicity on the healthy Wistar albino rats of both sexes (n = 5/dose/sex) was treated orally with doses of 20 mg/kg (adult human dose = ~1400 mg), 500 mg/kg (adult human dose = ~35,000 mg) and 1000 mg/kg (adult human dose = ~70,000 mg) of test drug (Linkus) for 14 days. Additionally, the control animals were treated orally with water for 14 days. Results: In female rats, the test drug (Linkus) at the dose of 300 mg/kg caused significant (p < 0.01) reduction in the cough reflexes as compared to the control. However, in male rats, a significant reduction was observed at the tested dose of 200 mg/kg (p < 0.05) and 300 mg/kg (p < 0.01). The test product did not cause mortality in rats at the given doses of 1 or 5 g/kg. Other signs of toxicity like hair loss and weight reduction were not observed. In female and male rats, the test drug (Linkus) at different doses did not show any abnormal effects on complete blood count profile of rats. Serum enzyme markers, i.e. alanine aminotransferase (ALT), alakaline phosphatase, gamma glutamyle transferase (GGT), direct bilirubin, creatinine, and proteins were also observed and found that the test drug at a higher dose did not cause any of the abnormality and had shown significant p value as compared to the control. Conclusion: The test drug (Linkus) could be an effective and safe cough syrup because it did not show any of the side effects or toxicity on experimental animals.