Spices, herbal xenobiotics and the stomach: Friends or foes?

Spices and herbal remedies have been used since ancient times to treat a variety of disorders. It has been experimentally demonstrated that spices, herbs, and their extracts possess antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, antirheumatic, lipid-lowering, hepatoprotective, nephroprotective, antimutagenic and anticancer activities, besides their gastroprotective and anti-ulcer activities. Despite a number of reports on the toxicity of herbs and spices, they are generally accepted as safer alternatives to conventional therapy against gastric ulcers. To this end, it is also believed, that excessive consumption of spices may favor the pathogenesis of gastric and duodenal ulcer and some studies have substantiated this common perception. Based on various in vivo experiments and clinical studies, on the effects of spices and herbs on gastric ulcers, it has indeed been shown that certain spices do possess remarkable anti-ulcer properties mediated by antisecretory, cytoprotective, antioxidant, and anti-Helicobacter pylori effects and mechanisms regulated by nitric oxide, prostaglandins, non-protein sulfhydryl molecules and epidermal growth factor expression. Accordingly, their consumption may attenuate and help prevent peptic ulcer disease. In the present review, the beneficial effects of spices and herbal nutritive components on the gastric mucosa are discussed against the paradigm of their deleterious potential.

CLINICOPATHOLOGICAL STUDY ON 3441 CASES OF BENIGN AND MALIGNANT ULCERS——The National Cooperative Group for Pathological Study on the Canceration of Gastric Ulcer

Resected specimens of benign and malignant gastric ulcers from 3441 cases were studied and compared clinically and pathologically. Among them, 421 cases of malignant ulcer were found. The malignant ulcers differed notably from the ulcerated gastric carcinoma and showed many similarities to the benign chronic gastric ulcer (CGU). The most distinct feature of malignant ulcer was lack of cancerous infiltration and muscular residue in the scar tissue of ulcer base. The existence of this type of ulcer clinically and pathomophologically supports the viewpoint that CGU can undergo malignant change. The rate of malignant change of CGU in this study was 3. 48%.

GC/MS-based differential metabolic profiling of human peptic ulcer disease to study Helicobacter pylori-induced metabolic perturbations

Helicobacter pylori infection has been significantly linked to Peptic Ulcer Disease and Gastric Cancer.Metabolomic fingerprinting may offer a principal way of early diagnosis and to understand the molecular mechanism of H.pylori-induced pathogenicity.The rationale of the study is to explore the underlying distinct metabolic mechanisms of H.pylori-induced PUD and to identify potential biomarkers for disease diagnosis and associated risks using Gas chromatography/mass spectrometry.GC/MS-based analytical method was used to compare metabolic profiles of healthy controls(N=20)and peptic ulcer patients(N=45).Acquired metabolomic data were analyzed by constructing a diagnostic model using principal component analysis and a non-parametric two-tailed paired Wilcoxon analysis to identify disease-specific metabolic biomarkers.A total of 75 low-molecular-weight endogenous metabolites were detected during comparative metabolomic analysis of PUD vs.healthy gut tissues,among which 16 metabolites are being proposed to be diagnostic markers of Human PUD.Perturbations related to amino acids,carbohydrates,fatty acids,organic acids,and sterol metabolism were significantly revealed during this differential metabolomic profiling.Results convincingly suggest that metabolic profiles can contribute immensely in early diagnosis of the disease and understanding molecular mechanisms of disease progression for predicting novel drug targets for prophylactic and anaphylactic measures.

Gut homeostasis, injury, and healing: New therapeutic targets

The integrity of the gastrointestinal mucosa plays a crucial role in gut homeostasis,which depends upon the balance between mucosal injury by destructive factors and healing via protective factors.The persistence of noxious agents such as acid,pepsin,nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs,or Helicobacter pylori breaks down the mucosal barrier and injury occurs.Depending upon the size and site of the wound,it is healed by complex and overlapping processes involving membrane resealing,cell spreading,purse-string contraction,restitution,differentiation,angiogenesis,and vasculogenesis,each modulated by extracellular regulators.Unfortunately,the gut does not always heal,leading to such pathology as peptic ulcers or inflammatory bowel disease.Currently available therapeutics such as proton pump inhibitors,histamine-2 receptor antagonists,sucralfate,5-aminosalicylate,antibiotics,corticosteroids,and immunosuppressants all attempt to minimize or reduce injury to the gastrointestinal tract.More recent studies have focused on improving mucosal defense or directly promoting mucosal repair.Many investigations have sought to enhance mucosal defense by stimulating mucus secretion,mucosal blood flow,or tight junction function.Conversely,new attempts to directly promote mucosal repair target proteins that modulate cytoskeleton dynamics such as tubulin,talin,Ehm^(2),filamin-a,gelsolin,and flightless I or that proteins regulate focal adhesions dynamics such as focal adhesion kinase.This article summarizes the pathobiology of gastrointestinal mucosal healing and reviews potential new therapeutic targets.

Efficacy of extract from Ononis spinosa L.on ethanol-induced gastric ulcer in rats

OBJECTIVE:To investigate the efficacy of the extract from Ononis spinosa L.(O.spinosa)on ethanol-induced gastric ulcer in rats.METHODS:Phytochemical constituents of the extract from O.spinosa were analyzed using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry.Rats were classified into 4 equal groups;ulcer control received oral vehicle;positive control was administered with 40 mg/kg esomeprazole(standard drug)and 2 groups received 0.5 and 1 g/kg of O.spinosa extract,respectively.Gastric ulcer was induced by absolute ethanol(5 mL/kg)orally to all groups.Measurement of ulcer index,cyclooxygenase-2(COX-2)expression and determination of total glutathione level in gastric mucosa were performed.RESULTS:Oral administration of the extract from O.spinosa at doses 0.5 and 1 g/kg lowered the ulcer indices by 80.39%and 98.71%,respectively,compared to 67.89%by esomeprazole(40 mg/kg).Histologically,treatment with the extract decreased necrosis and hemorrhage in mucosa and edema and infiltration by inflammatory cells in submucosa.Using immunohistochemical technique,it was demonstrated that COX-2 expression increased in mucosa of animals treated with the extract as well as by esomeprazole.O.spinosa and esomeprazole increased total glutathione level in the stomach compared to control.Ononin was the major compound of the extract followed by trifolirhizin,myricitrin,gentisic acid,cycloartenol and quercetin.CONCLUSION:The present study demonstrated that the extract from O.spinosa was able to protect gastric mucosa from ethanol injury by at least 2 mechanisms,namely the induction of COX-2 and decreasing oxidative stress in the stomach.