Treatment of gastric ulcers and diarrhea with the Amazonian herbal medicine sangre de
grado.
Miller, Mark J. S., Wallace K. MacNaughton, Xiao-Jing Zhang, Jane H. Thompson, Randi M.
Charbonnet, Paul Bobrowski, Juan Lao, Ann Marie Trentacosti, and Manuel Sandoval.
1Department of Pediatrics and Center for Cardiovascular Sciences, Albany Medical College,
Albany, New York 12208; 2Department of Pediatrics, Louisiana State University Medical
Center, New Orleans, Louisiana ?????; 3Department of Physiology and Biophysics,
Gastrointestinal Research Group, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada ??? ???;
4Universidad Nacional Agraria de la Selva, Tingo Maria, Peru; and 5Rainforest Phytoceuticals,
Delmar, New York ?????
APStracts 7:0100G, 2000.
Sangre de grado is an Amazonian herbal medicine used to facilitate the healing of gastric ulcers
and to treat gastritis, diarrhea, skin lesions, and insect stings. This study was designed to evaluate
the gastrointestinal applications. Gastric ulcers were induced in rats by brief serosal exposure of
the fundus to acetic acid (80%). Sangre de grado was administered in drinking water at 1:1,000
and 1:10,000 dilutions from the postoperative period to day 7. Guinea pig ileum secretory
responses to capsaicin, electrical field stimulation, and the neurokinin-1 (NK-1) agonist
[Sar9,Met(O2)11]-substance P were examined in Ussing chambers. Sangre de grado facilitated
the healing of experimental gastric ulcer, reducing myeloperoxidase activity, ulcer size, and
bacterial content of the ulcer. The expression of proinflammatory genes tumor necrosis factor-
alpha, inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), interleukin (IL)-1beta, IL-6, and cyclooxygenase-2
was upregulated by ulcer induction but reduced by sangre de grado treatment, particularly iNOS
and IL-6. In Ussing chambers, sangre de grado impaired the secretory response to capsaicin but
not to electrical field stimulation or the NK-1 agonist. We conclude that sangre de grado is a
potent, cost-effective treatment for gastrointestinal ulcers and distress via antimicrobial, anti-
inflammatory, and sensory afferent-dependent actions.
Received 17 December 1999; accepted in final form 9 February 2000.
APS Manuscript Number G512-9.
Article publication pending Am J Physiol Gastrointest Liver Physiol
ISSN 1080-4757 Copyright 2000 The American Physiological Society.
Published in APStracts on 12 May 2000