Post by beebs on May 3, 2011 5:25:45 GMT -5
Many of us search in vain as to painful bowel, motility, constipation, diarrhea and other symptoms, invasive tests, to no avail. The issues involve autonomic system, neurotransmitters and free radicals, yes, that again!!
Fast forward, there is talk of fecal transplant, and now, the discussion below about using Ashwaganda rectally. Its also used for CNS, mops up free radicals in the brain. I tried a tiny little dose, and had an allergic reaction. But those who do tolerate find relief from some of their CNS symptoms, within two weeks or so.
Back to Ashawa rectal gel, it seems safe, but then, for the sensitives...
Rectal gel application of Withania somnifera root extract denotes anti-inflammatory and muco-restorative activity in TNBS-induced Inflammatory Bowel Disease
Pankaj Pawar email, Suhit Gilda email, Siddhesh Sharma email, Suresh Jagtap email, Anant Paradkar email, Kakasaheb Mahadik email, Prabhakar Ranjekar email and Abhay Harsulkar email
Background
Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) is marked with chronic inflammation of intestinal epithelium driven by oxidative and nitrosative stress. Traditional treatments with plant extracts gained renewed interest due to their ability to ameliorate the multi factorial conditions like inflammation. We investigated the beneficial effects of Withania somnifera in TNBS induced experimental IBD through a rectally applicable formulation.
Methods
The study included (i) preparation of gel formulation from aqueous Withania somnifera root extract (WSRE), (ii) biochemical assays to determine its performance potential, (iii) testing of formulation efficacy in Trinitro Benzyl Sulfonic Acid (TNBS)-induced inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) rat model, and (iv) histo-patholgical studies to assess its healing and muco-regenerative effect in IBD-induced rats. For this purpose, concentration dependant antioxidant activity of the extracts were evaluated using biochemical assays like (a) 1,1-diphenyl-2-picryl-hydrazyl (DPPH) free radical scavenging, (b) inhibition of lipid peroxidation, (c) NO scavenging, (d) H2O2 scavenging, and (e) reducing power assay.
Results
The extract showed maximum 95.4% DPPH scavenging, 95.6% inhibition of lipid peroxidation, 14.8% NO scavenging, and at 500 g/ml concentration reducing capacity (0.80), comparable with standard antioxidants, ascorbic acid and curcumin. WSRE treatment positively scored on histopathological parameters like necrosis, edema, neutrophil infiltration. The post treatment intestinal features showed restoration at par with the healthy intestine. In view of these results, gel formulation containing an aqueous extract of W. somnifera, prepared for rectal application was tested for its anti-inflammatory activity along with commercially available anti-inflammatory drug Mesalamine in TNBS-induced rat models for IBD.
Conclusions
Dose of the rectal gel applied at 1000 mg of WSRE per kg rat weight showed significant muco-restorative efficacy in the IBD-induced rats, validated by histo-pathological studies.
www.biomedcentral.com/1472-6882/11/34/abstract