Holistic Health Articles and Research Related to Herbal Medicines, Foods and Phytochemicals

Sunday, 1 September 2019

Herbal Turmeric the Best for the Treatment of Gout and Recurrent Gout

By Kyle J. Norton

Gout, a painful and recurrent condition mostly affected one joint is a type of arthritis caused by uric acid building up in the blood that induces joint inflammation.

Epidemiologically, high levels of uric acid found in the body that leads to the forming of crystals are the culprit, as a result of the inability of the kidney to get rid of uric acid.

Most cases of gout are found in patients who follow the diet with a high intake of meats and seafood and foods containing higher levels of purine such as alcoholic beverages, especially beer, and drinks sweetened with fruit sugar (fructose).

Reduced intake of aforementioned products has been found to reduce the onset of recurrence of the condition in many previous patients.

Believe it or not, most patients with gout and recurrent gout also associated with medical conditions of hypertension, renal insufficiency, and hypertriglyceridemia.

Furthermore, the increase of the level of uric acid not only significantly raises the risks of gout, but also the risk of cardiovascular disease, and type 2 diabetes.

Dr. LÁlvarez-Lario B, the lead scientist at the Hospital Universitario de Burgos wrote, "Gout is characterized not only by an increase in uric acid, eventual episodes of arthritis, and chronic joint damage but also by association with several comorbidities and increased cardiovascular risk. The adoption of more healthier dietary habits may contribute to better management of uricemia and also to a reduction of associated diseases".

In other words, by a change of lifestyle and moderate exercise, gout may be manageable or preventable.

Turmeric is a perennial plant in the genus Curcuma, belonging to the family Zingiberaceae, native to tropical South Asia.

The herb has been used in traditional medicine as anti-oxidant, hypoglycemic, colorant, antiseptic, wound healing agent, and to treat flatulence, bloating, and appetite loss, ulcers, eczema, inflammations, etc.

On finding a potential compound for the treatment of gout with no side effect, researchers examined the effect of turmeric nanoparticles (T-NPs) against gout, in vitro and in vivo.

The T-NPs developed were about 46 nm in size with a positive zeta potential +29.55 ± 3.44 and low polydispersity index (PDI).

In mice induced gout by monosodium urate crystals, T-NPs administered orally showed a significant effect in the treatment of gout and gout symptoms with 5, 10, and 20 ppm.

All parameters associated with the development of gout were inhibited by the injection T-NPs regardless of doses.

In other words, T-NPs inhibited gout by improving the lipid profile, renal, and liver function involved in the expression of the levels of uric acid, observed by the tested assays.

Dr. the lead scientist said, "Uric acid levels were significantly reduced after the treatment with T-NPs. indicating that T-NPs show superior potential against gout management".

Taken altogether, turmeric in the form of turmeric nanoparticles (T-NPs) may be used for the treatment of gout, pending to the confirmation of the larger sample size and multicenter human study.

Intake of turmeric in the form of supplement should be taken with extreme care to prevent overdose acute liver toxicity.

Natural Medicine for Fatty Liver And Obesity Reversal - The Revolutionary Findings To Achieve Optimal Health And Lose Weight

How To Get Rid Of Eye Floaters
Contrary To Professionals Prediction, Floaters Can Be Cured Naturally

Ovarian Cysts And PCOS Elimination
Holistic System In Existence That Will Show You How To
Permanently Eliminate All Types of Ovarian Cysts Within 2 Months

Back to Kyle J. Norton Homepage http://kylejnorton.blogspot.ca

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.

Sources
(1) Evaluation of Turmeric Nanoparticles as Anti-Gout Agent: Modernization of a Traditional Drug.
Kiyani MM1, Sohail MF2,3, Shahnaz G4, Rehman H5, Akhtar MF6, Nawaz I7, Mahmood T8 bt Manzoor M9, Bokhari SAI. (PubMed)
(2) [Hyperuricemia and gout; the role of diet].[Article in Spanish; Abstract available in Spanish from the publisher] by bÁlvarez-Lario B1, Alonso-Valdivielso JL2. (PubMed)

Onion Promotes Healthy Gut Microbiota

By Kyle J. Norton

Gut microbiota is a community of microbes living in the gastrointestinal tract, including at least 1000 different species of known bacteria with more than 3 million genes.

In a healthy individual, the ratio of good and bad microbes in the gut are balanced. However, people who have a psychological condition such as anxiety, and depression, and are under constant stress and long-term use of antibiotics, particularly your diet may have a negative impact on the ratio.

More precisely, under normal conditions, gut microbiota plays a critical role in overall health,
* Gut microbiota improves the absorption of the dietary nutrients of the digestive system

* Gut microbiota protects the body against xenobiotics and drug toxicity through facilitating the excretion.

* Gut microbiota also maintains the structural integrity of the gut mucosal barrier by enhancing the epithelial cells that protect the intestine against invasive pathogens and ensure the function of intestinal in nutrients adsorption.

* Gut microbiota interacts with the immune system against inflammatory immune disorders and inhibits the risk of gastrointestinal diseases and non-gastrointestinal diseases caused by overexpression of bad bacteria.

However, imbalanced of the ratio of gut microbiota may have a negative impact on human health and diseases.

Epidemiological studies suggested imbalanced gut microbiota dysbiosis found in overweight and obese has been found to promote diet-induced obesity and metabolic complications.

Dr. KarinaAl-Ass wrote, "Obesity is a worldwide epidemiologic syndrome characterized by fat mass accumulation, mainly visceral fat. Current thinking considers the potential role of gut microbiota on the development of obesity and its related comorbidities"

And " Gut microbiota can influence energy extraction from food, lipid metabolism, immune response, and endocrine functions and its profile has shown to differs between obese and lean subjects".

A recent joint study led by the Tianjin Medical University, General Hospital, onion supplement may be potent to improve gut microflora and intestinal histomorphology on an animal model.

The onion is a plant in the genus Allium, belonging to the family Alliaceae, a close relation of garlic. It is often called the "king of vegetables" because of its pungent taste and found in a large number of recipes and preparations spanning almost the totality of the world's cultures.

Depending on the variety, an onion can be sharp, spicy, tangy, pungent, mild or sweet.

The study included a total of 300 and 12-day old broiler chicks (Ross) that randomly divided into four groups as A served as the control without any supplementation, and B, C, and D received supplemented with onion powder at the rate of 1.5, 2 and 2.5g/kg of feed respectively.

Based on the tested results,

* Supplementation of onion exerted a significantly (P<0.05) increased weight gain and feed consumption compared to control.

* Furthermore, supplementation of onion significantly inhibited the population of E. coli and increased significantly Lactobacillus and Streptococcus species.

In other words, onion supplement promotes colon health by improving the ratio of gut microbiota.

* More importantly, injection of onion supplement also significantly increase the morphometry of length, width, crypt depth and surface area of the villus in duodenum, jejunum, and ileum of the small intestine associated with the colon health optimization.

Based on the findings, researchers said, "onion supplementation in broiler produced a positive effect on performance, gut microflora, and intestinal histomorphology".

Taken altogether, onion processed a higher mount of onionin A (ONA) may be considered a remedy for the promotion of colon health, pending to the confirmation of the larger sample size and multicenter human study.

Sources
(1) Effect of Quercetin Monoglycosides on Oxidative Stress and Gut MicrobiotaDiversity in Mice with Dextran Sodium Sulphate-Induced Colitis by Hong Z1, Piao M. (PubMed)
(2) In vivo effects of Allium cepa L. on the selected gut microflora and intestinal histomorphology in broiler by Ur Rahman S1, Khan S1, Chand N1, Sadique U2, Khan RU. (PubMed)
(3) Gut microbiota and obesity by Karina Al-Assal, Ana Cristina Martinez, Raquel SusanaTorrinhas, Camila Cardinelli, Dan Waitzberg. (Science Direct)

Bromelain, the Natural Anti Blood Coagulation Remedy

By Kyle J. Norton

Coagulation is the process to form a blood clot. Coagulation is also used by the immune system to cover the wound or cut to prevent additional blood loss and protect the body against the invasion of foreign microorganisms.

More precisely, in the acute phase of infection, the immune system activated the fibrins together with small blood cell fragments called platelets, to form the clot. The clots are removed after healing.

However, excessive blood clotting associated with certain diseases and conditions, genetic mutations and medicines, particularly in the aging population has been found to increase the risk of cardiovascular disease.

Excessive blood clotting can be classified into acquired and genetic excessive blood clotting

* Risk factors associated with acquired excessive blood clotting are smoking, overweight, and obesity, pregnancy, use of birth control pills or hormone replacement therapy,...

* The genetic preposition of clotting occurs in the mutation of proteins associated with blood clotting including mutated proteins that cause delay or dissolve blood clots such as Factor V Leiden and
Prothrombin gene mutation.

Most common diseases associated with excessive blood clotting include venous thromboembolism or DVT that involve in the deep veins in the legs and arterial thrombosis that involves in the arteries of the heart.

Conventionally, most cases of excessive blood clotting are treated by anticoagulants. In life-threatening blood clots, thrombolytics can dissolve clots that are already formed.

Bromelain, a proteolytic enzyme found in pineapples (Ananas comosus) has been used in traditional medicine as an inflammatory agent and to treat pains, strains, and muscle aches and pains and ease back pain and chronic joint pain, skin diseases, etc.

On finding a potential compound for the treatment of blood coagulation, researchers examined the bromelain coagulation-inhibiting effects.

In an animal model, bromelain enhanced the activity of serum fibrinolysis by inhibiting the fibrinogen synthesis involving in hepatocytes in the final stages of the blood coagulation process.

Additionally, the anti-blood coagulative activity also exhibits the direct degradation of fibrin and fibrinogen associated with the clotting of blood.

Furthermore, bromelain lowers kininogen and bradykinin serum that involve in the contact activation of the blood coagulation process.

Additionally, bromelain also influenced on prostaglandin synthesis that serves the physiological function of preventing needless clot formation.

Moreover, these effects of bromelain are also dose-dependent.

Taken altogether, bromelain may be considered a remedy for the prevention and treatment of blood coagulation, pending to the confirmation of the larger sample size and multicenter human study.

Sources
(1) Properties and Therapeutic Application of Bromelain: A Review by Rajendra Pavan, Sapna Jain, Shraddha, and Ajay Kumar. (PMC)

Saturday, 31 August 2019

Healthy Legume Navy Bean, the Best Natural Antioxidants

By Kyle J. Norton

Antioxidants are stable atoms which inhibit oxidation induced by free radicals.

Free radicals are highly unstable atoms. Internally, free radicals are produced by our body cell metabolism. Externally, free radical can enter our body from the environment sources, such as the air we breathe, the food we eat and the water we drink.

In other words, any chemicals compounds or molecules which process an oxygen atom can be free radicals in a chemical reaction with other atoms.

According to the epidemiological studies, free radicals are dangerous to human health in excessive amount. Overexpression of free radicals induced oxidative stress has been found to damage the lipid, and protein and induce the alternation of healthy cell DNA.

Out of all damages caused by overexpression of free radicals, some researchers suggested that lipid peroxidation induced by free radical has a strong implication in the pathogenesis of various disorders and diseases.

In a healthy person, antioxidants produced by the body are more than enough to counter the expression of free radicals. However, in people with a weakened immune system, intake of dietary antioxidants regularly can be helpful.

Oxidative stress can either be caused by overexpression of free radicals or depletion of antioxidant enzymes produced by the host.

Some researchers suggested that by balancing the ratio of free radicals and antioxidants in the body, diseases associated with oxidative stress can be preventable.

Dr. Monica H Carlsen wrote, "A plant-based diet protects against chronic oxidative stress-related diseases. Dietary plants contain variable chemical families and amounts of antioxidants".

And, "there are several thousand-fold differences in antioxidant content of foods. Spices, herbs, and supplements include the most antioxidant rich products in our study, some exceptionally high. Berries, fruits, nuts, chocolate, vegetables, and products thereof constitute common foods and beverages with high antioxidant values".

The results strongly suggested that intake of a higher amount of berries, fruits, nuts, chocolate, vegetables which are antioxidant-rich products can protect us against the risk of diseases associated with oxidative stress.

The small, white navy bean, also called pea bean or haricot, popular in both dry and green forms, is very popular in Britain and the US, native to Peru. the beans are now grown and consumed across the world, due to their numerous health benefits.

With an aim to find a natural compound for the treatment of diseases associated with oxidative stress, researchers examined the antioxidant effects of a pinto bean, cowpea, baby lima bean, lentil, chickpea, small red bean, red kidney bean, black kidney bean, navy bean, and mung bean extracts.

Navy bean showed significant lesser antioxidant activity in vitro compared to those of lentils with total antioxidant activity (720.68 U/g), DPPH• scavenging activity (38.5%).

In free radical scavenging activity, navy bean also showed a lesser activity compared to those of black kidney bean (85.68%) and baby lima bean (74.97%) extracts in inhibiting oxidation of Amongst the extracts, hydroxyl radicals (•OH).

In the chemical analysis, the total antioxidant activity (r=0.84), DPPH• scavenging activity (r=0.83), and total reducing power (r=0.84) were positively correlated with the total phenolic content which also lower in the navy been compared to those of lentils.

Taken altogether, navy bean may be considered a natural antioxidant for the treatment of diseases associated with oxidative stress, pending to the confirmation of the larger sample size and multicenter human study.

Sources
(1) In vitro antioxidant activity of extracts from common legumes by Zhao Y1, Du SK2, Wang H1, Cai M. (PubMed)
(2) The total antioxidant content of more than 3100 foods, beverages, spices, herbs and supplements used worldwide by Monica H Carlsen,#1 Bente L Halvorsen,#1 Kari Holte,1 Siv K Bøhn,1 Steinar Dragland,2Laura Sampson,3 Carol Willey,3 Haruki Senoo,4 Yuko Umezono,4 Chiho Sanada,4Ingrid Barikmo,5 Nega Berhe,1 Walter C Willett,3 Katherine M Phillips,6 David R Jacobs, Jr,1,7and Rune Blomhoff. (PMC)

Phytochemical Indicaxanthin Inhibits The Risk of Intestinal Motility Disorders

By Kyle J. Norton

Intestinal motility disorders is a condition associated with abnormal intestinal contractions, such as spasms and intestinal paralysis.

In a healthy individual, intestinal muscles contract and relax in a coordinated, rhythmic fashion that propels food of each stage of digestion. However, patients with intestinal motility disorders, food pass on each stage are reduced or blocked due to abnormal intestinal muscle motility.

Most common symptoms of intestinal motility disorders are difficulty swallowing, GERD., gas, severe constipation, diarrhea, abdominal pain, vomiting, and bloating.

In other words, intestinal motility disorders cause a wide range of digestive symptoms.

Most common causes of intestinal motility disorders are associated with the problem of muscle that controls peristalsis or the nerves or hormones that control the muscle's contractions.

Certain diseases such as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), gastroparesis, esophageal spasms, diabetes, and Hirschsprung's disease are also linked to the onset of intestinal motility disorders.

Dr. Deane AM, the lead scientists in the examination of conventional treatment of intestinal motility disorders, said, "Gastrointestinal dysmotility causes delayed gastric emptying, enteral feed intolerance, and functional obstruction of the small and large intestine, the latter functional obstructions being frequently termed ileus and Ogilvie syndrome".

And, "While the administration of either metoclopramide or erythromycin is supported by evidence it appears that dual-drug therapy (erythromycin and metoclopramide) reduces the rate of treatment failure...Several drugs, including ghrelin agonists, highly selective 5-hydroxytryptamine receptor agonists, and opiate antagonists are being studied in clinical trials. Neostigmine, when infused at a relatively slow rate in patients receiving continuous hemodynamic monitoring, may alleviate the need for endoscopic".

Indicaxanthin is phytochemicals in the class of red and yellow indole-derived pigments of Betacyanins, belongings to the group of Betalains found abundantly in beets, chard, etc.

According to the Università di Palermo, phytochemical Indicaxanthin may process the function that inhibits the risk of abnormal intestinal contractions associated with the ability gut to coordinate muscular activity.

Abnormal intestinal contractions in the gut have been found to induce inflammation and abdominal cramps.

More precisely, indicaxanthin induced inhibitory effects on the abnormally spontaneous mechanical activity of the gut-associated with an enzyme that cause muscle constriction.

Furthermore, the phosphodiesterases (PDEs) function that regulated contraction and relaxation of smooth musculature induced by the expression of 3-isobutyl-1-methylxanthine (IBMX) was also modulated by the injection of indicaxanthin.

Moreover, administration of indicaxanthin and IBMX, a pan-specific inhibitor of phosphodiesterases also significantly reduced the carbachol-evoked contractions with no side effects.

And, both indicaxanthin and IBMX increased the inhibitory effects of forskolin associated with muscle relaxant effects with no adverse effects.

In other words, Phytochemical indicaxanthin increased both basal and forskolin involved in muscle relaxant activity in mouse ileal muscle by inhibiting the mechanisms associated with motility disorders.

Dr. Baldassano S, the lead scientist said, "indicaxanthin reduces the contractility of ileal longitudinal muscle by inhibition of PDEs and increase of cAMP concentration and raise the possibility of using indicaxanthin in the treatment of motility disorders, such as abdominal cramps".

Taken altogether, indicaxanthin may be considered a remedy for the prevention and treatment of motility disorders, pending to the confirmation of the larger sample size and multicenter human study.

Natural Medicine for Fatty Liver And Obesity Reversal - The Revolutionary Findings To Achieve Optimal Health And Lose Weight

How To Get Rid Of Eye Floaters
Contrary To Professionals Prediction, Floaters Can Be Cured Naturally

Ovarian Cysts And PCOS Elimination
Holistic System In Existence That Will Show You. How-To
Permanently Eliminate All Types of Ovarian Cysts Within 2 Months

Back to Kyle J. Norton Homepage http://kylejnorton.blogspot.ca

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.

Sources
(1) Inhibitory effects of indicaxanthin on mouse ileal contractility: analysis of the mechanism of action by Baldassano S1, Rotondo A, Serio R, Livrea MA, Tesoriere L, Mulè F. (PubMed)
(2) Pathophysiology and Treatment of Gastrointestinal Motility Disorders in the Acutely Ill by Deane AM1, Chapman MJ2,3, Reintam Blaser A4,5, McClave SA6, Emmanuel A. (PubMed)

Tomato/Lycopene the Anti Cancers Functional Food

By Kyle J. Norton

Cancers are a class of diseases caused by irregular cell growth in the tissue or organ in the body.

According to the Canadian Cancer Society, in 2017, over 200,000 new cases of cancer were diagnosed and 80,800 patients died from the disease in the same year.

Lung, colorectal, breast, and prostate cancer were accounted for about half of all cancer diagnoses and deaths.
Believe it or not, 1 in 2 Canadian adults will develop cancer in their lifetimes and 1 in 4 will die of the disease.

At the early stage, patients with cancer may not experience any symptoms due to the very small size of the tumor and the cancer are still on the surface in the inner lining tissues. However, at the late stage after colonizing the complete organ, cancer cell not can travel a distance away from the originated site to affect other healthy tissue and organ, they can also cause some related and specific symptoms accompanied by general symptoms associated with other types of cancer.

Cancer is classified by the followings

* Size of the cancer

* Invasive or not

* Whether cancer has spread to the lymph nodes

* Whether cancer has spread to the distance parts or organs of the body.

There are 4 stages of breast cancer in TNM rating (where T is referred for tumor size, N is referred for Lymph Node status, M is referred for invasive or not)

Where
# T: Tumor Size is divided into four classes: T-1 is between 0 - 2 cms, T-2 is between 2 - 5 cms, T-3 is > 5cms, and T-4 is a tumor of any size growing into the chest wall or skin, including inflammatory breast cancer.
#N: No swollen nodes: N-0, some swelling but negative node (not cancerous): N-1a, swelling nodes and positive node (cancerous): N-1b, quite swollen and bunched together: N-2, quite swollen and near the collarbone: N-3.
# M: if no cancer cell is found: M-0, cancer cells found: M-1.

The stages of cancer are
* Stage 1T-1 tumor and clear lymph nodes with no evidence of spreading (M-0), or T-1N-0M-0.
* Stage 2
Stage 2 is the combination of a combination of T-1, T-2, or T-3 tumor, N-0. N-1a and N-1b but no spreading (M-0)
* Stage 3
Stage 3 is the combination of all T or N but no spreading (M-0)
* Stage 4
Stage 4 is the combination of T, N-1a, N-1b, N-2, N-3, and M-1

Tomato is red, edible fruit, genus Solanum, belonging to family Solanaceae, native to South America. Because of its health benefits, the tomato is grown worldwide for the commercial purpose
and often in the greenhouse.

In the urgency to find a potential ingredient for the treatment of cancer with little or no side effect, researchers examined the effect of a novel strategy of formulating the lycopene loaded whey protein isolate nanoparticles (LYC-WPI-NPs) ability for adenosine deaminase inhibition of the regression of the tumor with the percent lycopene entrapment in the range to 50 and 65%.

In the chemical release analysis, LYC-WPI-NPs enhanced the oral bioavailability of lycopene by controlling its release through the absorption in the lymphatic pathways.

According to the MTT based colorimetric assay, LYC-WPI-NPs exerted significant cytotoxicity against MCF-7 breast cancer cells in vitro.

In an animal model induced breast cancer, LYC-WPI-NPsd also demonstrated it's prophylactic anticancer efficacy without causing the death of normal cells.

Based on the findings, researchers wrote in the final paper, "Conclusively, it may quite reasonable that lycopene loaded protein nanoparticles are competent to improve the biopharmaceutical attributes of lycopene and demonstrated prophylactic anticancer activity, decrease tumor proliferation and increase the survival rate of treated animals".

In other words, LYC-WPI-NPs significantly enhanced the lycopene anti-cancer biopharmaceutic activity compared to oral administration as seen in an animal model.

Taken altogether, tomatoes may be considered supplements for the prevention and treatment of cancer, pending to the confirmation of the larger sample size and multicenter human study.

Intake of lycopene in the form of supplement should be taken with extreme care to prevent overdose acute liver toxicity.

Sources
(1) Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) Carotenoids and Lycopenes Chemistry; Metabolism, Absorption, Nutrition, and Allied Health Claims--A Comprehensive Review by Perveen R1, Suleria HA, Anjum FM, Butt MS, Pasha I, Ahmad S. (PubMed)
(2) Lycopene loaded whey protein isolate nanoparticles: An innovative endeavor for enhanced bioavailability of lycopene and anti-cancer activity by Jain A1, Sharma G2, Ghoshal G3, Kesharwani P4, Singh B5, Shivhare US4, Katare OP. (PubMed)

Cucumbers (Cucumis sativus), the Potential Anti-Gastric/Stomach Cancer Antioxidant

By Kyle J. Norton

Gastric or mouth cancer is a chronic and medical condition characterized by abnormal cells growing in the tissues of the stomach.

The stomach formed part of the digestive system and located between the esophagus and the small intestine, is a muscular, hollow of the digestive tract.

Most cases of gastric or mouth cancer start in the mucus-producing cells of the inside lining of the stomach due to the alternation of DNA. Adenocarcinoma is the most common type of gastric cancer.

At the early stage, due to the small size of the tumor, most patients with gastric cancer are asymptomatic.

However, as cancer continues to grow, it may induce general symptoms shared by all cancer and specific symptoms such as mild ache in the upper part of the body, difficulty of swallowing, feeling full or bloated after a small meal, vomiting blood or having blood in the stool.

At this stage, gastric cancer also induces secondary metastasis, by infecting other healthy tissues and organ far away from the original site.

Out of many risk factor associated with the onset of gastric cancer including diet, long-term inflammation of the stomach, smoking, and obesity, some researchers suggested low levels gastric acid production by the stomach may have a strong implication in facilitating the onset of the condition.

Dr. Helge L. Waldum, the lead scientist in the analysis of the correlation between

Helicobacter pylori and gastric acid, wrote, "Helicobacter pylori (Hp) is the main cause of gastritis, peptic ulcer disease, and gastric cancer. There are still unanswered questions related to the interaction between Hp and man, like what determines the susceptibility for the initial infection and the mechanisms for the carcinogenic effect".

And, "The initial infection seems to require a temporal gastric hypoacidity. For Hp to survive in the gastric mucous layer, some acidity is necessary. Hp itself is probably not directly carcinogenic. Only when inducing oxyntic mucosal inflammation and atrophy with hypoacidity, Hp predisposes for gastric cancer. Gastrin most likely plays a central role in the Hp pathogenesis of duodenal ulcer and gastric cancer".

The cucumber plant is a species of Cucumis Sativus, belongs to the family Cucurbitaceae and native to Western Asia. It is also a creeping vine with roots in the ground and grows up with the support of frames.

With an aim to find a potential compound for the treatment of gastric cancer, researchers examined the effect of Ecballium elaterium (L.) A. Rich (Cucurbitaceae) (squirting cucumber) on cell lines of gastric and esophageal origin namely called AGS (human gastric carcinoma) and KYSE30 (human esophageal squamous cell carcinoma).

The study included AGS and KYSE30 cancer cell lines incubated for 24, 48, and 72 h with an aqueous extract of the fruits of E. elaterium prepared and freeze-dried.

In AGS, at the IC(50) values of 2.5, 0.7, and 0.7 μg/ml, the aqueous extract for cell line after 24, 48, and 72 h, respectively showed significant induction of cell apoptosis.

Similarly, KYSE30 cell line induced apoptosis was found at IC(50) values for KYSE30 cell line in doses of 500, 150, and 125 μg/ml after 24, 48, and 72 h, respectively.

Furthermore, the injection of the extract also showed a significant increase in cell density at the G2/M phase, according to cell cycle analysis.

Moreover, the efficacy of the extract against gastric cancer cell lines was attributed to several compounds in the induction of cytotoxicity.

Based on the findings, researchers said, "The results of the current study showed that the freeze-dried aqueous extract of E. elaterium fruit has a cytotoxic effect on gastric and esophageal cancer cell lines by means of apoptosis".

In order to reveal more information of cucumber anti-gastric cancer activity, researchers investigated the effects of Cucurbitacin B (CuB), a natural compound found in Cucurbitaceae in cisplatin (DDP)-resistant human GC cell line SGC7901/DDP.

According to the tested assays, CuB treatment significantly suppressed SGC7901/DDP cell proliferation, induced caspase-dependent apoptosis, and autophagy.

Interestingly, the activation of autophagy was mediated through CuB- inhibition of the protein (TORC1) involved the regulation of cancer cell growth and survival.

In order to reveal more information of CuB anti-gastric cancer potency, scientists examined the CuB activity as a cancerous inhibitor of protein phosphatase 2A (CIP2A), a human oncoprotein that is overexpressed in multiple kinds of tumors including gastric cancer (GC).

In cisplatin (DDP)-resistant human GC cell line SGC7901/DDP, CuB treatment exerted a similar effect as of that of the aforementioned study in the inhibition of SGC7901/DDP cell proliferation, induced caspase-dependent apoptosis, and autophagy.

Moreover, CuB inhibited mTORC1 as showed in the previous study via the inhibition of CIP2A which activates the protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A) in the induction of cancer cell proliferation.

Based on the results, researchers said, "CuB can inhibit the proliferation, induce caspase-dependent apoptosis, and autophagy of SGC7901/DDP cells by suppressing CIP2A/PP2A/mTORC1 signaling axis".

Taken altogether, cucumber processed a high amount of Cucurbitacin B (CuB) as the main ingredient may be considered supplements for the prevention and treatment of gastric cancer, pending to the confirmation of the larger sample size and multicenter human study.

Intake of Cucurbitacin B (CuB) in the form of supplement should be taken with extreme care to prevent overdose acute liver toxicity.

Sources
(1) Cytotoxic effect of freeze-dried extract of Ecballium elaterium fruit on gastricadenocarcinoma (AGS) and esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (KYSE30) cell lines by Bohlooli S1, Jafari N, Jahed S. (PubMed)
(2) Cucurbitacin B induces autophagy and apoptosis by suppressing CIP2A/PP2A/mTORC1 signaling axis in human cisplatin resistant gastric cancercells by Liu X1, Duan C1, Ji J1, Zhang T1, Yuan X1, Zhang Y1, Ma W1, Yang J2, Yang L2, Jiang Z2, Yu H2, Liu Y1. (PubMed)
(3) Helicobacter pylori and gastric acid: an intimate and reciprocal relationship by Helge L. Waldum, Per M. Kleveland, and Øystein F. Sørdal. (PMC)