Bilberry Protects the Stomach Against Gastric Ulcer, Studies Say

By Kyle J. Norton

Gastric, stomach ulcer is an oval sore found on the lining of the stomach.

A gastric ulcer is one of the most common types of peptic ulcer disease which affects both the stomach and small intestines.

According to the epidemiological studies, gastric ulcer is caused either by the infection of bacterium Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) or long-term use of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), such as aspirin.

Most common symptoms are burning sensation or pain in the stomach. Most patients with gastric ulcer have pain that intensifies on empty stomach, depending on the severity of the condition.

Some patients with gastric ulcer also experience persistent dull pain in the stomach, unintended weight loss, nausea or vomiting and bloating and acid reflux.

If you have some of the aforementioned symptoms, please check with your doctor to rule out the possibility of a gastric ulcer.

Conventionally, most cases of gastric ulcer can be treated successfully depending on the cause, including medicine or surgery if the medicine failed.

Out of many risk factors that cause a gastric ulcer, some researchers suggested there is a correlation between obesity and gastritis as well as gastric ulcers.

Dr. Nadia B. Pietrzykowska said, "Excess body weight has been linked to various abdominal ailments. These may include abdominal pain, bloating, vomiting, heartburn, diarrhea or constipation".

And, "Scientific studies are also increasingly reporting a correlation between obesity and gastritis as well as gastric ulcers. A recent, large study that specifically focused on analyzing gastric and duodenal ulcers confirmed that excess weight predisposed individuals to gastric ulcers when compared to their normal weight counterparts".

Bilberry is a species of low-growing shrubs in the genus Vaccinium, belongings to the family Ericaceae, native to Northern Europe.

The plant berry has been used as herbs in traditional medicine for the treatment of acute and chronic diarrhea, gastritis, gastric ulcer, and duodenal ulcer, enterocolitis, ulcerative colitis, anemia, cystitis, kidney disease, and psoriasis, diabetes, etc.

In the testing of the effect of Vaccinium myrtillus L. anthocyanoside (VMA) used as a folk medicine to treat diseases related to gastric ulcers in northern Europe, researchers investigated the protective effects of VMA on gastric mucosal damage in a murine gastric ulcer model.

During the experiment, oral administration of VMA (10, 30 and 100 mg/kg) significantly protected gastric mucosa against HCl/ethanol-induced gastric ulcers.

VMA protected the stomach by inhibiting lipid peroxide levels in a concentration-dependent manner and exhibiting the high scavenging activity against the superoxide anion radical (·O(2) (-) ) and the hydroxyl radical (·OH). 

The antioxidant activity in VMA was found to be attributed by the presence of anthocyanidins and delphinidin.

Based on the findings, Dr. Ogawa K, the lead scientist said, "These findings indicate that the protective effects of VMA on HCl/ethanol-induced gastric mucosal injury may be partially due to the antiperoxidative effects of anthocyanidins".

In order to provide more information about VMA gastric protective effects, researchers examined the antiulcer effects of 3,5,7-trihydroxy-2-(3,4-dihydroxyphenyl)-1-benzopyrylium chloride (IdB 1027,
an anthocyanidin from Vaccinium myrtillus) in various experimental models.

Orally, IdB 1027 inhibited all parameters associated with the onset of gastric ulcerations including anti-inflammatory drugs, ethanol, reserpine, histamine and duodenal ulceration induced by mercaptamine.

Furthermore, IdB 1027 also protected the stomach against chronic gastric ulcers induced by acetic acid. 

Moreover, IdB 1027 in rat model did not affect gastric secretion in pylorus-ligated rats and increased gastric mucus in normal animals both in the absence and in the presence of indomethacin treatment.

In other words, IdB 1027 possessed a promising antiulcer activity, probably by potentiating the defensive barriers of the gastrointestinal mucosa.

Taken altogether, bilberry may be considered a functional remedy for the prevention and treatment of gastric ulcer, pending to the validation of larger sample size and multicenter human study.

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Author Biography
Kyle J. Norton (Scholar, Master of Nutrition, All right reserved)
Health article writer and researcher; Over 10.000 articles and research papers have been written and published online, including worldwide health, ezine articles, article base, health blogs, self-growth, best before it's news, the karate GB daily, etc.,.
Named TOP 50 MEDICAL ESSAYS FOR ARTISTS & AUTHORS TO READ by Disilgold.com Named 50 of the best health Tweeters Canada - Huffington Post
Nominated for shorty award over last 4 years
Some articles have been used as references in medical research, such as international journal Pharma and Bioscience, ISSN 0975-6299.

References
(1) The protective effect and action mechanism of Vaccinium myrtillus L. on gastric ulcer in mice by Ogawa K1, Oyagi A, Tanaka J, Kobayashi S, Hara H. (PubMed)
(2) Antiulcer activity of an anthocyanidin from Vaccinium myrtillus by Magistretti MJ1, Conti M, Cristoni A. (PubMed)
(3) Obesity and Gastric Ulcers by Dr. Nadia B. Pietrzykowska. (OMC community)