Herbal Arctostaphylos uva-ursi, the Potential Anti Gastric/ Stomach Cancer Remedy

Scientists may have found a herbal remedy for the prevention and treatment of gastric cancer with no side effects, according to studies.

Gastric cancer or stomach cancer is a condition characterized by the abnormal growth of cells in the stomach tissue.

Most cases of gastric cancer start in the cells on the surface of the inner lining of the stomach tissue.

At stage 0, due to the gastric cancer cells being restricted or completely contained within the innermost layer of the lining, patients may not experience any symptoms.

However, at the later stage, the cancer cells can travel a distance away from the stomach to infect other tissue and organ, leading to secondary metastasis. If the tumor grows large enough, it may suppress the nearby blood vessels and nerve cells, causing blood to leak into the stomach and localized severe pain.

Besides common symptoms of cancers, patients with gastric cancer also experience some specific symptoms such as persistent abdominal (belly) pain., vague discomfort in the abdomen, a sense of fullness in the upper abdomen after eating a small meal, and heartburn or indigestion.

If you are having some of the above symptoms, please check with your doctor to rule out gastric cancer possibility.

Although there are many risk factors involved in the onset of the disease, such as family history, Helicobacter pylori infection, smoking, genetic preposition, certain stomach conditions, previous stomach surgery and type A blood, some researchers suggested that the most common cause of gastric cancer in the Western world is the Western diet-related disease.

Dr. Bertuccio P, the lead scientist at the Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche Mario Negri, in the concern of diet pattern in the risk of gastric cancer wrote, " An unfavorable role on GC emerged for the 'Western/unhealthy' dietary pattern, with an OR of 1.51 (95% CI: 1.21-1.89)" and "A favorable role on GC emerged for the 'Prudent/healthy', with an odds ratio (OR) of 0.75 [95% confidence interval (CI): 0.63-0.90], for the highest versus the lowest category".

The results strongly indicated the risk of gastric cancer is substantially higher in the Western diet group compared to the lower risk of a healthy diet.

Arctostaphylos uva-ursi is one of the species of Bearberry, in the genus Arctostaphylos, belonging to the family Ericaceae, native to northern North America, Asia, and Europe.

The herb plant has been used in traditional medicine as a diuretic agent and to treat urinary problems, including bladder infections, kidney infections, kidney stones, pelvic pain, etc.

The plant contains arbutin, ursolic acid, tannic acid, gallic acid, some essential oil and resin, hydroquinones tannins, phenolic glycosides, and flavonoids.

With an aim to find a natural ingredient or whole food for the treatment of gastric cancer, researchers at the Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine examined the effects of ursolic acid isolated from bearberry (Arctostaphylos uva-ursi) against the pathogenesis of gastric cancer characterized by excessive proliferation, abnormal differentiation, and reduced apoptosis.

Ursolic acid, extracted from the traditional Chinese medicine bearberry, inhibited gastric cancer cell proliferation and induced apoptosis.

Further assessment of anti-gastric cancer, researchers discovered that ursolic acid exhibited apoptotic activity through cancer cell degradation observed in the gastric cancer BGC-823 cells.


In other words, efficacy is associated with a translocation of cofilin-1 protein that activates the function of cytochrome c in programmed cell death from the mitochondria to the cytoplasm.

These results suggested that ursolic acid activated the function of proteins (the caspase cascade) associated with the cell death and apoptotic pathway.


Where Mitochondria are the major organelles involved in the biochemical execution of apoptosis


Dr. the lead scientist, after taking into account co and confounders said, "mitochondrial translocation of cofilin-1 might play a crucial role in the promotion of apoptosis and might be a key target for future treatment of human gastric cancer".


Taken altogether, Bearberry (herbal Arctostaphylos uva-ursi) processed a major compound of ursolic acid may be considered a functional remedy for the prevention and combined with other primary medicine for the treatment of gastric cancer, pending the confirmation of large sample size and multicenter human study.


However, intake of ursolic acid as a supplement should be taken with extreme care to prevent overdoses and acute liver toxicity.




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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) Mitochondrial translocation of cofilin-1 promotes apoptosis of gastric cancer BGC-823 cells induced by ursolic acid by Tang Q, Ji Q, Tang Y, Chen T, Pan G, Hu S, Bao Y, Peng W, Yin P.(PubMed)
(2) Dietary patterns and gastric cancer risk: a systematic review and meta-analysis by Bertuccio P1, Rosato V, Andreano A, Ferraroni M, Decarli A, Edefonti V, La Vecchia C. (PubMed)